Fifteen months that the families of Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Liri Albag and Naama Levy have been waiting for this moment. A week after the release of three Israeli women, these four soldiers kidnapped by Hamas during the attacks of October 7, 2023 were exchanged this Saturday, January 25 for 200 Palestinian prisoners. An exchange as part of the ceasefire agreement concluded between the Jewish state and the Palestinian Islamist movement.
First presented on a podium set up in Gaza City by Hamas fighters, the four young women aged 19 to 20 were then handed over to the Red Cross. They then found their family members in Reim, in the south of the country.
Although the media were not allowed to witness this moment, the Israeli army released photos and a video of this reunion at the end of 477 days of captivity, punctuated by cries of joy and tears . “Welcome home Daniella, Liri, Karina and Naama,” the Israeli army wrote on its X account.
A “long captivity in trying conditions”
Tears and cries of joy were also numerous in Tel Aviv, on the “Hostage Square”, where relatives and supporters of the four soldiers followed their release live. “Bring them home now, everyone!” shouted some in the crowd, triggering waves of applause.
-Transferred to a hospital near Tel Aviv, the four ex-hostages are in a “stable condition” although (their) long captivity in trying conditions is visible,” said Dr. Lena Koren Feldman, director assistant at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikvah.
According to Olivier Rafowicz, spokesperson for the Israeli army interviewed on BFMTV, the four young women “must undergo more in-depth examinations at the medical level, also at the psychological and psychological level, to check their state of health after 477 days spent in the hands of Hamas in terrifying conditions.
Original article published on BFMTV.com
