Here’s what we know about the 4 freed hostages

Hamas released four female soldiers on Saturday as part of a prisoner exchange, more than a year after the women were taken captive during a Hamas-led offensive on October 7, 2023, which began the war.

The hostage release was part of a 42-day ceasefire agreement that took effect on Sunday, halting hostilities between Israel and Hamas. Hamas has agreed to gradually release 33 of the nearly 100 remaining hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a partial Israeli withdrawal.

The young women worked as “informants” for the Israeli army, reporting suspicious activity across the border. During an attack led by Hamas, militants attacked the Nahal Oz military base in Israel, killing more than 50 soldiers and kidnapping the women, who were all teenagers at the time, and female soldiers. three others.

In May, the Israeli military released a three-minute video collection, verified by The New York Times, showing Palestinian fighters, some wearing Hamas turbans, tying the hands of five women, including the four freed from on Saturday. The footage was captured on camera by the Hamas militants who abducted them, according to the Center for Hostages and Missing Families, which represents relatives of many of the captives.

Here’s what else we know about the four freed hostages:

Liri Albag

In January, Ms. Albag, now 19, released a three-and-a-half-minute video of the Hamas military wing, which it says has held her for more than 450 days.

In a statement, Ms. Albag’s family said her “extreme mental anguish is evident” in the video and asked leaders to “make decisions as if your child were there.”

“He is only tens of kilometers away from us, but for 456 days we could not bring him home,” said the family.

Karina Ariev

Ms. Ariev, now 20, called her parents during the attack, described the militants firing guns and rockets, and told them she loved them, according to Israeli media. Her family later that day saw a Hamas video posted on social media that showed Ms. Ariev and two other women in a Jeep — their faces bleeding, they said.

In August, when Ms. Ariev marked 20 years in captivity, Ms. Ariev’s older brother, Sasha Ariev, told an event in Jerusalem that she had moved home after the October 7 attack. to help their needy parents who feel helpless and needy. to have hope.

He says the hostage crisis is consuming him. “How am I supposed to sleep when we failed to bring Karina and all the other hostages home?” he said. “How can I sleep when I’m in my bed and he’s a hostage?”

Daniella Gilboa

Daniella Gilboa, 20, is from Petah Tikva, in central Israel. In July, Ms. Gilboa’s family released a video made by Hamas that they obtained months earlier, showing her and Ms. Ariev in captivity.

In an interview with Maariv, an Israeli newspaper, the father of Ms. Gilboa’s boyfriend said he had mixed feelings about the video. “In his family there is a sense of relief along with disappointment,” he said.

Face plate

Naama Levy, also now 20, texted her mother in a safe room on the day of the attack, according to a website focused on protecting her release. “I have never heard of such a thing,” he wrote. A Hamas video of him being taken to Gaza shortly after the attack went viral on social media.

In an interview for the investigation into sexual violence during the attack, Ayelet Levy Sachar, Naama’s mother, spoke about her daughter’s abduction. He was seen in a Hamas video wearing a uniform, covered in blood.

“They grabbed them by the hair, and they were all kind of freaked out,” he said, adding, “We like to think it’s not going to happen. So that no one will harm the girl. But then you just see it there.”