Posted on 01/24/2025 1:56:08 PM PST by Uncle Miltie
Hamas to release Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy; all four were abducted when terrorists stormed IDF’s Nahal Oz surveillance base on Oct. 7
Israel on Friday evening confirmed the names of four female Israeli hostages who are set to be released by Hamas on Saturday, after 477 days in captivity.
The four hostages, whose names were submitted by Hamas late on Friday afternoon, are 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 massacre 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 partial 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, agreed to receive the four 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 who are slated to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal: Arbel Yehud, 29, and Shiri Silberman Bibas, 33. Bibas’s two sons Ariel and baby Kfir, and her husband Yarden, are also on the list of 33 to be freed.
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. Yehud had been on the list to be released in the only previous hostage-truce deal, in November 2023, but the deal collapsed before the final scheduled group of releases.
Liri Albag, dreams of becoming an interior designer and architect
Albag, 19, from Moshav Yeruhav in central Israel, was abducted to Gaza along with six other surveillance soldiers during the attack.
Albag, her family said in a message distributed by the Hostages’ Families Forum, radiates joy, with a smile and laugh that brightens the day of everyone around her. She loves traveling, singing, photography, and cooking, and dreams of becoming an interior designer and architect.
Albag’s mother, Shira, last heard from her daughter at 6:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023, 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.
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 had 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.
Daniella Gilboa, studies piano and singing, aims for a career in music
The second soldier named by Hamas on Friday to be released is Daniella Gilboa, 20, from Petah Tikva.
Gilboa, her family said, is a passionate musician who studies piano and singing, aspiring to pursue a professional career in music. She is known for her optimism and kindness, the family said.
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.
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.
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.
Karina Ariev, hopes to become a psychologist Ariev, 20, from Jerusalem, was taken captive from the same Nahal Oz base as Albag and the other soldiers.
Ariev has diverse interests including dancing, singing, writing, cooking, and makeup, her family said. She dreams of becoming a psychologist and is known for being compassionate and for bringing people together – serving as the connecting force in both her friendships and family relationships.
Her parents recalled speaking to her at 7 a.m. on the morning of October 7, 2023, 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, triathlete, force for positive change The fourth soldier named by Hamas on Friday is Naama Levy, 20, from Ra’anana in central Israel.
Levy, her family said, is a dedicated triathlete who loves spending time with friends. She participated in a delegation fostering connections between American, Palestinian, and Israeli youth to create positive change. Family and friends describe her as gentle and quiet, yet full of light, joy, strength, and determination.
She last texted with her mother, Ayelet Levy, at 6:55 a.m. on October 7, 2023.
“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.
Hours later, a Hamas video appeared on Telegram, showing Levy, her hands tied, the bottom of her pants 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I see dead people.
God only knows what any of these women have endured.
The terrorists should be guaranteed to be dead if the hostages are harmed. Even one hostage. I volunteer to help.
This is way too slow. Send in the Air Force to “woke” the Hammies. They’re slower than a gaggle of RAT “senators”.
To: Oldeconomybuyer
Rub out the vermin in Gaza.
135 posted on 10/7/2023, 5:02:28 PM by kiryandil
https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4187758/posts?page=135#135
Yep. Bodies, God forbid, are going to be far more numerous than the living. A few more women kept as sex slaves, and maybe a couple young guy sex slaves are going to be all the rest of the still living.
I don’t think it’s over with Israel vs Hamas. When all is said and done and Israel receives all the hostages Hamas says they have, I bet Israel will extract vengeance.
Reason N+1 for women not to be in combat.
Hamas must be eliminated completely. Those remaining after the hostilities are officially over, must be tracked down — each and every one.
Hamas,
Has given up all rights to this life on the Earth.
Kill them all.
They think they are going to a paradise,
speed their trip!
For every IDF female soldier Hamas gets double the Hamas prisoners..I want to know what happened to the Bibas family Id be shocked if they are still alive
Right, well, these women were border observers, IIRC. And hamass didn’t discriminate among servicewomen and civilian women. There is no safe space to a savage.
Are females in combat in Israel?
Pretty sure they always have been. They are here.
Shocking that all of the prisoners discussed are women.
Well, Israel is a unique situation. I know that military service is compulsory for all Jewish females in Israel; but I don’t know if combat service is.
I’m surprised there’s still alive.
You nailed it. They are going to find out that there are way less live hostages than they are expecting. Hama is trying to get as many demons returned as possible before they realize how bad they got screwed on the exchange.
With many hamas/supporters being released by Israel in exchange for a few hostages it’s a given hamas or some other Jew hating group will attack again.
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