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Times Of Israel
Times Of Israel
24 Jan 2025


NextImg:Four female soldiers to be freed Saturday in second hostage release of Gaza ceasefire

Hamas on Friday evening published the names of four female Israeli hostages who are set to be released by the terror group the next day, after 477 days in captivity.

The four hostages were named Liri Albag, 19, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Karina Ariev, 20, and Naama Levy, 20.

All four women are soldiers and were abducted from the IDF surveillance unit at the Nahal Oz army base during the Hamas-led massacres on October 7, 2023.

One of the abducted surveillance soldiers was later rescued alive, and the body of a second one was recovered after she was murdered in captivity.

Of the five remaining surveillance soldiers that were taken hostage, Agam Berger, 21, is the only one not included on the list that Hamas released Friday.

The list of the four soldiers is in apparent violation of the ceasefire agreement, which states that female civilians are to be released first, then female soldiers, followed by the elderly and then those who are deemed extremely ill. Israel however reportedly agreed to receive the hostages, deciding the breach was not grave enough to collapse the deal.

Outside of the five surveillance soldiers, there are two female civilian hostages from the original list of 33 slated to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal: Arbel Yehud, 29, and Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33. Israel had conveyed to Hamas that it expected Yehud — who is thought to be held by fellow terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad — to be released this weekend, however, she was not named by Hamas on Friday.

Albag, 19, from Moshav Yeruhav in central Israel, was abducted to Gaza along with six other surveillance soldiers during the attack.

Albag’s mother, Shira, last heard from her daughter at 6:30 a.m. that day, when Albag reported that she was in a field shelter, trying to avoid the rocket barrage.

Thinking her daughter was at a hospital, she went to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba to try and find her. When she arrived back home, Liri Albag’s boyfriend showed her a Telegram video posted by Hamas, in which they were able to identify Albag being kidnapped by terrorists.

“I saw it and I refused to believe what I was seeing,” said Shira.

Liri Albag, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

Earlier this month, Hamas published a propaganda video showing signs of life from Albag. The three-and-a-half-minute-long video was not dated, although Albag stated in it that she has been held for over 450 days, indicating that it was filmed recently.

“The video released today tore our hearts apart,” her family said in a short statement after the video was published. “This is not the same daughter and sister that we know. She is in bad condition, and her difficult mental state is evident.”

They appealed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the government to make decisions regarding the hostages “as if your children were there.”

“Liri is alive and must come back alive! It depends only on you,” the family said.

Shira Albag, left, and her husband Eli, the parents of captive surveillance soldier Liri Albag, speak to Channel 12, in a segment broadcast January 10, 2025. Eli Albag dons a photo of their hostage daughter. (Screen capture: Channel 12, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The second soldier named by Hamas on Friday to be released is Daniella Gilboa, 20, from Petah Tikva.

Gilboa was in touch with her family on the morning of the attack. She also sent her boyfriend videos that morning, which showed what she was wearing that day.

Daniella Gilboa, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

When Hamas videos appeared later that day, showing three of Gilboa’s friends being taken hostage to Gaza, Gilboa’s family was able to identify her by the shirt she was wearing which they recognized, and a small, hidden ponytail on her head. The army later confirmed that Gilboa was taken hostage to Gaza.

“I picture her walking in the door and coming home,” said her mother, Orly, in multiple interviews.

Gilboa was filmed in a Hamas propaganda video last January, in a video that her family did not allow for publication until July 2024. The family’s belated granting of permission to publicize the video was meant to galvanize support for the efforts to broker a hostage deal, Gilboa’s mother told Kan news in July.

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At the start of the clip, Gilboa identifies herself and says that she has been held by Hamas for 107 days, which would date the clip to January 22, 2024 (though the actual date of the video cannot be verified). Gilboa was likely coerced when she made the video.

“I am under bombardment and fire 24 hours a day. I am very, very scared for my life. You even almost killed me one time with your bombs,” Gilboa says in the video.

The video showed Gilboa alongside Doron Steinbrecher, who was released in last week’s hostage exchange, and Karina Ariev, who was named by Hamas on Friday to be released along with Gilboa on Saturday.

L-R: Hostages Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Doron Steinbrecher are seen in a Hamas propaganda clip published January 26, 2024. (Screenshot: Telegram)

Ariev, 20, from Jerusalem, was taken captive from the same Nahal Oz base as Albag and the other soldiers.

Her parents recalled speaking to her at 7 a.m. that morning, as she cried, describing a barrage of rockets and terrorists firing guns.

Karina Ariev, who was taken captive early in the morning of October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)

“She screamed and said she loves us very much,” said Karina’s mother in an interview. “She told us to continue our lives.”

By 7:40, Karina’s parents lost all communication with her. “We didn’t know who to call,” they said.

Naama Levy was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

The fourth soldier named by Hamas on Friday is Naama Levy, 20, from Ra’anana in central Israel.

She last texted with her mother, Ayelet Levy, at 6:55 a.m.

“We’re in a secure space,” wrote Levy. “I’ve never heard anything like this in my life,” describing the stream of rockets and gunfire outside.

Naama Levy, seen in a video with bloody pants shortly after she was taken hostage to Gaza on October 7, 2023. (Screen grab/X)

Hours later, a Hamas video appeared on Telegram, showing Levy, her hands tied, her pants bottom covered in blood and smeared with dirt, her feet bare, being pulled by her hair from the back of a black pickup truck and then pushed into the back seat.

Levy’s bloodstained sweatpants have become a symbol of the female hostages in Hamas captivity, with female protesters throughout the war donning sweatpants with red stains to highlight the abuse of the hostages.

Women dressed as IDF surveillance soldier Naama Levy, who was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, protest to demand her release, in Tel Aviv on October 19, 2024. (Marcelo Sznaidman / Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Levy is the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and was a participant in the Hands of Peace project in the US, working toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

An undated picture of four IDF surveillance soldiers held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, that was made public by their families on July 16, 2024. Behind them is a framed picture of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. From left: Liri Albag, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, and Karina Ariev. (Courtesy)

Albag, Gilboa and Ariev were all seen in images found by the IDF in Gaza early in the war, alongside fellow hostage Agam Berger. Their families released the images in July 2024.

The four can be seen sitting on mattresses on the floor of a room. Ariev and Gilboa both appear to have bandages on their heads.

They are wearing clothes, some with bloodstains, that were apparently given to them by their captors.

In a separate photo apparently taken around the same time, Levy is seen with a heavily swollen eye and cuts on her face.

An undated picture of surveillance soldier Naama Levy held hostage in Gaza that was made public by her family on July 16, 2024. (Courtesy)

On Saturday, Hamas is expected to provide Israel with details on the status of the 30 remaining hostages on the list, providing long-sought specifics on which hostages were alive. There was concern in Jerusalem, however, that Hamas might merely provide an overall number of how many of the 30 are alive.

Following the scheduled release of the second group of hostages, Israel is set to free another batch of Palestinian security prisoners. The agreement stipulates that for each of the female soldiers, Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners, 30 of them convicted terrorists who are serving life sentences.

A passerby looks at photos of the hostages in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, January 23, 2025. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

Israel is also set to allow displaced Palestinians on foot to return to northern Gaza from tomorrow via the Netzarim Corridor.

Ninety-one of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January.