The whirring, clattering sounds of the helicopter rotors eventually silenced as it finally touched down in Israel in a plume of dust. The hostages were home at last.
After 482 days in Gaza, four Israeli soldiers were finally released from captivity on Saturday, January 25. After making it past the torment and pain afflicted on them by the Hamas terrorists, they ended up surviving long enough to go home.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists unexpectedly infiltrated Israel, killing over 1,200 and capturing over 200 innocent citizens. The first line of defense, the soldiers, both men and women, faced a great challenge to stay alive under attack.
Karina Ariev, 20; Daniella Gilboa, 20; Naama Levy, 20; and lastly Liri Albag, 19; were all forcefully taken from the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Surveillance Unit at the Nahal Oz Army Base by the Hamas terrorists while 15 others were murdered. They had barely any time to say goodbye to their parents, as this could have been the last time they would ever be able to contact each other. According to The Times of Israel, they told their parents to keep living their lives and that them being gone shouldn’t stop the world from spinning.
Images were then embedded into the wide media showing the torture they endured just in those few minutes after they were forced to put down their phones. Their faces and clothes were drenched in blood. Going past their experiences they relied on each other throughout the entire time in captivity.
Though the youngest, Liri Albag, was able to prevent one of the women that were with her while in Gaza from being killed. According to ex-hostage Amit Soussana (released in the first hostage deal in 2023), the terrorists in charge of keeping an eye on the five hostages believed that Soussana was a part of the IDF even though she attempted to tell them that she was not. They were not convinced. They ended up threatening her to death if she didn’t admit that she was a soldier. She was given 40 minutes to say her final goodbyes to the rest of the women that were with her, but Albag was able to speak to one of the terrorists and convince him that she was not lying about her not being a soldier. Due to her speaking up, she ended up saving Soussana’s life, allowing her to live long enough to go home.
This week, there are meant to be 11 hostages that are to be released from captivity including Agam Berger, the last woman soldier; Arbel Yehoud, citizen of the Nir Oz Kibbutz; Gadi Moses, an 80-year old that survived the torture, also from the Nir Oz Kibbutz; along with five Thai citizens which were all released Thursday. However, on Saturday, February 1, the three additional hostages will also return home.
Meanwhile, the Tenafly community is still waiting on news about Edan Alexander and his return home.
