Palestine-based Hamas on Saturday released four female Israeli soldiers as part of the second hostage release of the Gaza ceasefire deal. Karina Ariv, Daniela Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albagh were serving as observers at Nahal Oz Army Base on the border with Gaza on October 7, 2021, when Hamas attacked Israel and captured them.
Hours before their release, four women—dressed in army green—were paraded before a crowd of thousands in Gaza City. They were then transferred to a Red Cross van, which brought them back home to Israel. In return, Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Liri (19), Naama (20), Karina (20), and Daniela (20) were among the first to be abducted by Hamas-led forces, who killed approximately 1,200 and imprisoned another 250 in the enclave. Pulled. The first few hours of the attack on the army base were filmed by Hamas forces, showing four women in their pajamas, covered in blood, while they were handcuffed against a wall.
Videos of their capture were resurfaced in May by their families in an effort to increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a hostage release deal with Hamas. It was re-released by Israel in a post on Sunday, hours after the four women were reunited with their families.
“Hamas wants you to forget the images of Liri, Daniela, Karina, and Naama on October 7, being taken from their beds in blood-soaked pajamas, tied to them by Hamas terrorists. We will not let that happen,” the post Read the caption. ,
Dozens of armed Hamas militants are currently gathering in Gaza to call for the release of 4 female hostages.
Soon we will see carefully orchestrated and brutal propaganda by Hamas.
Hamas wants you to forget the images of Liri, Daniela, Karina and Naama on October 7. pic.twitter.com/fzqxzqgnyj
– Israel Sharāl (@israel) January 25, 2025
In the video, one of the women can be heard telling her captor that she has friends in Palestine. When the Hamas fighter asked them to leave, the other woman told him she wanted to call her friend in Gaza.
According to media reports, during their 477 days in Hamas captivity, Denla, Liri, Naama and Karina were kept in poor sanitary conditions in civilian apartments and tunnels. He was also reportedly forced to cook and clean for his captors, sometimes while receiving little food for himself.
Three other female soldiers—Agram Berger, Noa Marciano, and Ori Megidish—were also taken hostage along with them. While Megidish was rescued alive by Israeli forces in late October 2023, Marciano was reportedly killed by his captors near Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital. Israel believes that Berger is also possibly alive and still in captivity in Gaza.
