The four women released today shared with their families and friends that they made it clear to Hamas, during the orchestrated handover event, that they would not be intimidated. According to early reports from their conversations, the four women — Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19 — walked confidently to the stage in a Gaza City square, where they smiled and waved to the crowd of Hamas gunmen and local Gazans. The women, who were made to wear military-style uniforms, were escorted across the square and placed on a stage alongside armed Hamas militants.
“We showed them on the stage that we were not fazed,” one of the hostages reportedly told their family and friends, according to Kan TV news. “It had no impact on us. We are stronger than them.”
Israel’s security leadership, monitoring the handover from a command center, expressed significant concern over the possibility that the highly staged event might spiral out of control. Channel 12 news later reported that the security officials concluded that the hostages’ calm and confident demeanor had “turned humiliation into victory.”
The four women had been captured by Hamas militants during the attack on their base at Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023. During their 477 days in captivity, they were held together with a fifth soldier, Agam Berger, until just days before their release. They spoke to their families and friends about the emotional difficulty they felt upon realizing that Berger was not released with them. Fifteen soldiers were killed at the base during the Hamas-led attack.
Kan reported that Liri Albag emerged as the leader of the group, often speaking to the terrorists on behalf of the others. Naama Levy, a triathlete, spent some of her time in captivity with Doron Steinbrecher, who was released just days before the four women. Together, they exercised to stay physically and mentally strong, “for body and soul.” Some of the hostages even learned Arabic during their time in captivity, and Kan shared a story of how they jokingly responded in Arabic to IDF soldiers who instructed them to sit down after their release while aboard an IDF helicopter.
One of the women endured a long period alone in a dark tunnel, in conditions where breathing was difficult. Throughout their captivity, the four were moved between locations in Gaza, including Gaza City, and some reported encounters with “very senior Hamas figures.” They also endured periods without food, and in some instances, they were forced to cook for the terrorists and clean their toilets, while being denied food themselves.
While in captivity, they would hear the sounds of IDF operations nearby, which was terrifying, but they supported and helped each other through the ordeal. They often heard the radio and were aware of their families’ struggles to secure their release. One of the hostages even overheard her family wishing her a happy birthday. They also watched some television, including coverage of protests held on their behalf, which gave them strength. The hostages even joked about the photos their families had chosen for posters calling for their release.
Some hostages were held in the homes of Gaza civilians, and they even played with the children of their captors. However, their treatment was often described as “shockingly” poor, with no proper medical care provided, even for injuries sustained during their abduction. Several of the women went without the ability to shower or maintain sanitary conditions for extended periods, and they were not allowed to comfort each other, either by holding hands or crying together. The captors regularly referred to them derisively as “the soldiers,” according to Kan.
{Matzav.com Israel}