OAN’s Brooke Mallory
3:23 PM – Tuesday, January 9, 2024
The families of four Israeli teens kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were interviewed by the UK’s Daily Mail outlet on Monday. They made a plea to parents everywhere, asking for help and further assistance in saving their loved ones.
Shortly after their abductions on October 7th, Liri Albag, 18, of Moshav Yarhiv, Karina Ariev, 19, of Jerusalem, Daniella Gilboa, 19, of Petah Tikva, and Agam Berger, 19, of Holon, were featured in a propaganda video released by Hamas.
The four were shown with their wrists tied behind them, lined up against a wall in the footage. A few were even battered and covered in dried blood.
Additionally, each woman’s pre-captivity photo was shown next to a screenshot taken from the video.
The four are thought to be the youngest female captives that Hamas and other terror organizations from Palestine are still holding in Gaza.
“Imagine if it was your daughter, your little girl in their hands,” said Orly, the mother of Daniela Gilboa, a pianist who wrote songs and dreamed of becoming a musician. “What would you imagine?”
In an attack on October 7th, hundreds of Hamas terrorists broke across Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians. The terrorists massacred as many nearby civilians as possible during their deadly rampage in the southern regions.
The Islamic extremists reportedly tortured and disfigured many victims.
A temporary ceasefire accord has resulted in the release of many women and children who were among the 240 people who were kidnapped and held as hostages in Gaza.
“We understood exactly what they did on October 7,” Orly said. “If they are capable of this, what have they been doing for 90 days? I don’t want to imagine what is going on.”
The family expressed worries that some female prisoners might have had limbs severed or that they had been raped at gunpoint.
“We heard about the sexual abuses,” said Shlomi Berger, Agam’s father. “As a father, I can’t imagine these things. The family is torn apart.”
He also asserted that the family was “torn apart, [and] not functional,” and that the circumstances had a profound effect on each and every one of them.
“It’s misery; it’s helpless[ness]. My mother’s in a terrible situation; she doesn’t know what to do,” said Karina’s sister, Sasha.
Karina is “very kind, very humble, and an innocent, pure creature. I can’t stop thinking about her, and I will do anything to get her back,” according to her sister.
Other liberated hostages have provided the families with some information regarding their children. After being released from Hamas on November 26th together with her three children, Chen Goldstein-Almog claimed to have seen the four teens at a residence in Gaza.
“Some of them are close in age to my daughters, and I hugged them so hard,” she told reporters.
However, Goldstein-Almog also returned with horrifying news about the conditions of the hostages.
“Some of the girls were badly wounded and haven’t been getting proper medical care,” she said of hostages she saw. “Gunshot wounds, even lost limbs. They said they can cope with the disability but not with the manner they were constantly violated.”
Although not all of the 132 hostages taken on October 7th are believed to be alive, it is thought that they are still in Gaza following the release of 105 civilians from Hamas custody during a week-long ceasefire in late November. Before then, four hostages had been freed, and one had been rescued by military forces.
Eight captives’ bodies have also been found.
Relying on new data and discoveries from soldiers stationed in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have verified the demise of 25 of the individuals who were being detained by Hamas.
Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped at the age of nine months, and his brother Ariel Bibas, who is four, are believed to be the youngest hostages held. Their parents, Yarden and Shiri, were also abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Israel began its military campaign to destroy Hamas, drive it out of Gaza, and free the captives in reaction to the attack on October 7th.
In the interview’s concluding moments, Orly recalled the days when her daughter used to play the piano in their house and lead singing performances with her sister.
“I wish it would be [like this] today,” she said.
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