Hamas released four female soldiers on Saturday as part of a hostage exchange, more than a year after the women were taken captive during a Hamas-led offensive on October 7, 2023, sparking the war.
The hostage release is part of a 42-day ceasefire agreement that halted fighting between Israel and Hamas on Sunday. Hamas agreed to release more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and an additional 33 of the approximately 100 remaining hostages in exchange for a partial Israeli withdrawal.
Young women were working as “spotters” for Israel’s military, reporting suspicious activity across the border. During the Hamas-led offensive, militants attacked the Nihal Oz military base in Israel, killing more than 50 soldiers and abducting women, all of whom were teenagers at the time, and three other female soldiers.
In May, Israel’s military released three minutes of redacted videos, confirmed by The New York Times, showing Palestinian fighters, some wearing Hamas headbands, tying the hands of five women. , which included all four released on Saturday. The footage was recorded by body cameras worn by the Hamas militants who abducted them, according to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of many of the abductees.
Here’s what else we know about the four hostages released:
Larry Albaugh
In January, Hamas’ military wing released an edited video of Ms Albagh, now 19, giving a three-and-a-half-minute speech it said had been held for more than 450 days.
In a statement, Ms. Albagh’s family said the video “clearly shows her severe psychological distress” and asked leaders to “make decisions as if you had your own children.”
“He is only a dozen kilometers away from us, yet for 456 days we have been unable to bring him home,” the family said.
Kareena Arroyo
Ms Aref, now 20, called her parents during the attack, told them she loved them as the militants fired guns and rockets. Israeli news media. Later that day her family posted a Hamas video on social media showing Ms. Arroyo and two other women in a Jeep – with blood streaming down her face.
In August, after Ms. Arroyo had served 20 years in prison, Ms. Arroyo’s older sister, Sasha Arroyo, Said at an event in Jerusalem That she had gone home after the October 7 attack to help her struggling parents who were increasingly helpless and struggling to hold on to hope.
He said the hostage crisis is using it. “How can I sleep when I didn’t manage to bring Karina and all the other hostages home?” He said. “How can I sleep when I’m in my bed and they’re hostages?”
Daniela Gilboa
Daniela Gilboah, 20, is from Peta Tikva in central Israel. In July, Ms Gilboh’s family released a video produced by Hamas that they had received months earlier, which He and Ms. Arif showed him in his captivity.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper, Mario, the father of Ms Gilboh’s boyfriend said the family had mixed feelings over the video. “In his family, there is a sense of despair as well as a sense of relief.”
Nama Levy
Nama Levy, now 20, texted her mother from a safe room on the day of the attack, according to a website focused on advocating for her release. “I’ve never heard anything like it,” He wrote. A video from Hamas immediately after its attack. Later, a video of him being taken to Gaza appeared on social media.
In an interview for a documentary about sexual violence during the attack, Ayelet Levi Sachar, Nama’s mother, spoke of her daughter’s abduction. She was seen in a Hamas video in pajama bottoms, covered in blood.
“They’re grabbing her by the hair, and she’s messed up like everybody else,” he added, adding, “We’d like to think that it can’t be. That no young girl is harmed. But then you see it there.
