Hamas released four female Israeli army soldiers on Saturday as part of a hostage exchange, held captive in a Hamas-led attack since October 17, 2023.
In a choreographed release, the four hostages wore military-style fatigues as they walked onto a stage in Gaza City. Like Hamas fighters in Balaclava, they shook and smiled at each other in a jubilant crowd.
Foreclosure is part of it 42-day ceasefire deal On Sunday, fighting between Israel and Hamas ended. Hamas has agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and 33 of the remaining hostages, in exchange for a partial Israeli withdrawal.
The hostages are the latest recruits to act as a “spotlight” for the Israeli military on suspected activity at the border. During Hamas's leadership, militants attacked the Nahal Oz military base in Israel, killing more than 50 soldiers and abducting women who were then teenagers and other female soldiers.
In May, Israeli soldiers were released Three minute video collectionConfirmed by the New York Times, showing Palestinian fighters, some wearing Hamas hoods, tying the hands of the four women who were released on Saturday. The footage was recorded by body cameras worn by the Hamas militants who kidnapped them, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
Here's what else we know about the four released hostages.
Freedom Albag
Aspiring to become an architect and interior designer, Ms. Albag, an architect and interior designer, joined Israel's military, according to a comment on the Alan Families forum.
His family expressed their relief and joy to see him released. “Far from what I expected,” said Khama Albag, her aunt, Ruhama Albag, who was told about live television.
In January, the military wing of Hamas released an edited video Ms. Albag speaks for three and a half minutes, which she says has now been held for more than 19,450 days.
In the video, Ms Albagh's family said her “severe psychological distress” was made clear in the video and asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders to “make the same decision as your own children”.
“He is only tens of kilometers away from us, we have not been able to bring him home for 456 days yet,” he said.
Karina Ariev
Ms Ariev, 20, is the daughter of immigrants from Ukraine and her family described them as a “unifying force” between friends and family.
During the attack, he called out to his parents, firing guns and rockets, telling them he loved them Israeli news media. Her family found an hour-long video on social media later that day showing Ms Ariev and two other women in a jeep with facial bleeding.
In August, Ms. Ariev's older sister, Sasha Ariev, He said at an event in Jerusalem On October 7, he moved home after 7 attacks to help his parents, who felt increasingly helpless.
Ms Ariev's sister said the hostage crisis had consumed her. “How can I sleep when we can't bring Karina and the other hostages home?” he said. “How can I sleep when I'm in my bed and he's a hostage?”
Daniella Gilboa
20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, is in Petah Tikva, Central Israel. At the time of her abduction Mrs. Gilboa was studying the piano and one day she was studying the piano and said forum.
In July, Ms. Gilboa's family released a video they had received from Hamas several months earlier showed him and Mrs. Ariev in captivity.
In an interview with Maariv, an Israeli newspaper, Ms. Gilboa's boyfriend said he felt the family's mixed emotions over the video. “The family has a sense of relief as well as disappointment,” he said.
face
According to the forum, Naama Levy, now 20, is a triathlete who grew up in Ra'anana, a leafy city north of Tel Aviv.
On the day of the attack, he sent his mother from a safe room to a clean room, directed to campaign for the release of a site. “I've never heard anything like it.” He wrote.
A Hamas video taken to Gaza shortly after the attack.
In an interview for a documentary about sexual violence during the attack, Ayelet Levy Sachar, Naama's mother, He talked about the kidnapping of his daughter. In a Hamas video, he was dried in his pajama bottoms, covered in blood.
“They grab her by the hair and she's messed up, like all of them,” he said, adding: “We'd like to think it wouldn't hurt a young girl. But then you just see it there.”