
The posters of the Israeli hostages (from left to right): Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniela Gilboa, held in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants. (Credit: AFP)
Four young Israeli women, captured during their military service near the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, are scheduled to be released Saturday as part of the truce agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy were abducted together while stationed at a surveillance unit near the Gaza border at the Nahal Oz base, close to the kibbutz of the same name.
Their abduction was filmed by the attackers.
Three other soldiers were taken hostage alongside them: Agam Berger, who remains held in Gaza and is presumed alive; Noa Marciano, whose body was repatriated to Israel; and Ori Megidish, who was rescued alive by the Israeli military in late October 2023.
Liri Albag, 19
According to The Jerusalem Post, Liri Albag, who was 18 at the time of her abduction, managed to send messages to her family during her captivity through freed hostages. She asked her sister Shai not to cancel the traditional post-service military trip and to take care of her favorite shoes.
Former hostages have reported that she was forced to cook, clean, and babysit for her captors.
Albag appeared in a three-and-a-half-minute video released by Hamas in January. Her parents, Shira and Eli Albag, have been actively campaigning for the release of hostages.
Karina Ariev, 20
Shortly before her abduction, Karina Ariev, then 19, was on the phone with her parents as rockets fell, and attackers stormed the base. The call was cut off at 7:40 a.m.
"She told us to continue living our lives if she died," her sister Sasha recounted in an interview with Time Magazine.
Footage of her capture showed that she was injured during the Oct. 7 attack. In January 2024, she appeared in a video published by Hamas on Telegram alongside Daniella Gilboa.
The Hostage Families Forum stated that "she dreams of becoming a psychologist."
Daniella Gilboa, 20
On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Daniella Gilboa, also 19 at the time, was in contact with her loved ones, even sending videos to her boyfriend.
These recordings later helped identify her in Hamas footage by the clothes she was wearing.
Originally from Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, Gilboa is described as a passionate musician who studied piano and singing and aspired to a music career, according to the Hostage Families Forum.
Naama Levy, 20
In a video of her capture released by Hamas, Naama Levy, then 19, was seen being escorted to a vehicle wearing bloodstained pants. Other footage showed her with a swollen face.
Levy, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, grew up in India and attended an American school there.
According to a website created by her family, Levy participated in Hands of Peace, a program promoting dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian youth. She is also a triathlete.