‘They survived hell’: Israeli hostages’ emotional reunions with families

The Israel Defense Forces has shared footage of the emotional moment four female Hamas’ hostages reunited with their families.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has shared footage of the emotional moment four female Hamas’ hostages reunited with their families.

Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag were handed over by the militant group on Saturday, in the second exchange of prisoners under a ceasefire deal that has halted the Gaza war.

The four women had been held by Hamas since October 7, 2023, when they captured together while deployed in a surveillance unit at the Nahal Oz military base, located a kilometre from the Gaza border. Their abduction was filmed by Hamas.

In video posted to X by the IDF, the women were seen embracing their family members as tears of relief streamed down their faces.

“They’re in our hands now and we are not letting go,” the IDF captioned the footage.

“Welcome home, Daniella, Liri, Karina and Naama.”

Former Israeli hostage Karina Ariev reunites with family. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

Ariev was held in captivity by Hamas for 477 days. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

Released hostages in ‘emotionally and medically complex situation’

The four women are going through an “emotionally and medically complex” situation, an Israeli Health Ministry division head said, and are expected to remain at the Rabin Medical Centre for several days.

The Health Ministry’s general medicine division head, Dr Hagar Mizrahi, said the women will receive various therapies targeting both their physical and emotional needs after being held captive.

“This is an emotionally and medically complex event for the hostages, for their families, for the families of all the hostages, and for the entire people of Israel,” Dr Mizrahi said, according to The Times of Israel.

Freed Israeli soldier ‘survived hell’ during 15-month captivity

The family of one of the hostages, Liri Albag, said she had “showed superpowers and survived hell” during her 15 months in captivity.

“A sense of relief envelops us after 477 long and unbearable days of nerve-racking waiting,” the 19-year-old’s family said in a statement, reported by The Times of Israel.

“We were finally able to see Liri, hug her and know that she is with us, in her safe place, surrounded by the love of her family.

“Liri showed superpowers and survived hell, and we are so proud of her for her steadfastness in the impossible conditions.”

The family said they plan to keep fighting “until the last of the hostages returns home”.

‘Cruelty’: Hamas’ video of smiling hostages condemned

A disturbing propaganda video published by Hamas, seemingly in an attempt to spin the women’s release in a celebratory light, has been slammed by the IDF for its cruelty.

The nearly three-minute clip, released by the group's Al-Qassam Brigades military wing, showed the women dressed in military-style clothing and seated in a white SUV. Like the first group of Israeli hostages freed by Hamas, the women were given framed certificates with their “prisoner release form”, as well as a keychain and “gift bags”.

The women thank Hamas in Arabic, The Times of Israel reported, before being brought out onto a stage in Gaza City, surrounded by thousands of cheering onlookers and gun-carrying terrorists. There, they were showered with confetti by an elderly woman.

After smiling and waving to the crowd, the hostages were led away by members of the Red Cross.

IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Hamas’ organisation of the “cynical ceremony” was a demonstration of its “cruelty”.

Hamas “presented a misrepresentation of treatment and care for the hostages, while in reality, it is cruelly holding innocent civilians for 477 days”, he said.

Former Israeli hostage Naama Levy reunites with family. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

200 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange

Israel confirmed Friday that it had received a list of the hostages’ names.

On Saturday, Palestinian sources said Israel is to free 200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages.

Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza should be able to begin returning to the north following Saturday’s releases, Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau based in Qatar, told AFP on Friday.

The truce has also led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza but Israel’s UN ambassador on Friday confirmed that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza’s main aid agency, must end all operations in Israel by Thursday.

The hostage-prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, and which is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the war.

Hamas fighters escort four Israeli hostages on a stage before handing them over to a team from the Red Cross in Gaza City on January 25, 2025. Picture: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP

Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the agreement days ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Mr Trump has since claimed credit for securing the deal after months of fruitless negotiations.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, said on Telegram Friday that “as part of the prisoners’ exchange deal, the Qassam brigades decided to release tomorrow four women soldiers”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed it had received the names through mediators.

Worry and fear

According to Israel’s prison service, some of the Palestinians released will go to Gaza, with the rest returning to the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The ceasefire agreement should be implemented in three phases, but the last two stages have not yet been finalised.

“The worry and fear that the deal will not be implemented to the end is eating away at all of us,” said Vicky Cohen, the mother of hostage Nimrod Cohen.

In Gaza, families displaced by more than a year of war longed to return home, but many will find only rubble where houses once stood.

“Even if we thought about returning, there is no place for us to put our tents because of the destruction,” Theqra Qasem, a displaced woman, told AFP.

During the first, 42-day phase that began Sunday, 33 hostages Israel believes are still alive should be freed in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Three hostages – Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher – returned home on the first day of the truce.

Hamas fighters escort four Israeli hostages to hand them over. Picture: Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP

Ninety Palestinians, mostly women and minors, were released in exchange. The deal’s second phase is to see negotiations for a more permanent end to the war, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal’s multiphase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.

During their October 7, 2023 attack, Hamas militants took 251 hostages, 91 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, a majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures which the UN considers reliable.

Relatives and friends of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip react as they watch the release of four women soldiers. Picture: John Wessels / AFP

“Situation remains dire”

Under the deal, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza’s densely populated areas is to allow for the exchanges as well as “the return of the displaced people to their residences”, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani has said.

Almost the entire Gaza population of 2.4 million has been displaced by the war According to the United Nations, by December 1, nearly 69 per cent of buildings in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed or damaged, and the UN Development Programme estimated last year that it could take until 2040 to rebuild all destroyed homes.

Hundreds of truckloads of aid have entered Gaza daily since the ceasefire began, but the UN says “the humanitarian situation remains dire”.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, will be effectively barred from operating as of Thursday.

In a letter addressed to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Ambassador Danny Danon confirmed: “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025.” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned on social media platform X on Friday that preventing the agency from operating “might sabotage the Gaza ceasefire, failing once again hopes of people who have gone through unspeakable suffering.”

– with The New York Post

Originally published as ‘They survived hell’: Israeli hostages’ emotional reunions with families