‘We are stronger than them’: Released hostages deny Hamas humiliation

A display of confidence by four Israeli hostages turned Hamas’s humiliation into victory, with one saying ‘we showed them on the stage that we were not fazed ... we are stronger than them’.

Former Israeli hostage Naama Levy is reunited with family at an army screening point in Reim, in southern Israel. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

The public parade of four jubilant female Israeli soldiers, smiling and pumping the air as they are displayed for the crowd of flag-waving and gun-toting Hamas supporters, was a sign to the international community that the cause of resistance will continue, analysts believe.

Saturday’s handover of Israel Defence Forces surveillance soldiers Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, in return for 200 Palestinian prisoners was very different to previous middle-of-night releases in 2023 and last week’s chaos among crowds.

The women wore military style outfits, hair pulled back to show their faces. Being put on exhibition, akin to a school assembly prize-giving, was a grandiose propaganda effort by Hamas that infuriated Israeli officials.

Naama Levy, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev on a stage before Hamas fighters hand them over to a team from the Red Cross in Gaza City. Picture: Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP

The release of the female soldiers exacerbated the “grave” concern held for the Bibis family: Shiri Silberman Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and two-year-old Kfir, the youngest hostage.

Relatives said their “world came crashing down” when the young Bibas family wasn’t released, as women and children were meant to be handed over before military personnel. Kfir and Ariel’s father, Yarden Bibas, is meant to be released later on.

IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said Hamas had violated the deal by not first freeing all female civilians. He said Israel would make sure a female civilian hostage, Arbel Yehud, who is believed to be still alive, was released.

Israel stopped Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza in response to Ms Yehud’s continued captivity, with Hamas then warning of “repercussions”.

Newly-released Israeli hostage Daniella Gilboa waves as she leaves a military helicopter following more than 15 months in captivity. Picture: Yossi Zamir/AFP

Oliver McTernan, director of London-based think tank Forward Thinking, said the increasing militaristic handovers and “big demonstration of defiance” shows the cause of resistance would continue. “Hamas was saying ‘We are here, we are not going away’,’’ he told France 24.

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, last week said: “There is no future of peace, stability and security for both sides if Hamas stays in power in the Gaza Strip.’’

US President Donald Trump described the Gaza Strip as “a real mess” and said he wanted the enclave “cleared out” so that reconstruction could begin.

He has begun talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi for them to take millions of Palestinian refugees for temporary or long-term resettlement.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Mr Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say ‘You know, it’s over’.”

Karina Ariev is reunited with family. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

He added: “Something has to happen. But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.

“So I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Hamas can play no future role in Gaza and is also distrustful of the Palestinian Authority, which partially administers the occupied West Bank.

After the soldiers’ emotional reunions with their families, Israel’s Channel 12 news reported that their display of confidence had turned Hamas’s humiliation into victory. One of the hostages, unnamed, had told her family: “We showed them on the stage that we were not fazed. It had no impact on us. We are stronger than them.”

The return of Ms Levy was particularly heartwarming for Israelis, who had witnessed the distressing Hamas-released footage of the brutal manner of her abduction: hands tied, her trousers soaked in blood, her arms and face bleeding, being dragged into a vehicle at gunpoint.

Hostage Naama Levy when she was abducted to Gaza on October 7, 2023.

She had been on her first shift in the Israeli military at the base at Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023, when the four women soldiers were kidnapped along with another soldier, Agam Berger, who is still held captive. Fifteen of their colleagues were killed.

It was later reported that the women had been moved around in Gaza and faced very different conditions throughout the 15 months from not being able to hold hands and comfort each other to going long periods without washing, to playing with the children of their Gazan captors.

They had met senior Hamas officials and had to cook and clean for them. One hostage had spent months in a dark tunnel barely able to breathe, without treatment for her injuries. At times they could hear radio and catch glimpses of TV and knew their families were agitating for their release. Hamas has spent the time since the ceasefire shoring up its power in the enclave, imposing strict controls on the distribution of aid as well as working to get basic sanitation services up and running.

Family welcome back Liri Albag. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

In the 15 months of the war, ­Israel eliminated Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and October 7 masterminds Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, severely weakening the militant organisation, but Hamas still retains an entrenched authority in the enclave.

“We want to prevent any kind of security vacuum,” Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office told Reuters.

Hamas’s authority extends beyond the men who brandish weapons and wear the distinctive green headbands to “maintain order” to the public servants and community leaders trying to restore areas fit for habitation and receive international aid.

Thawabta said Hamas had 18,000 employees working on these services, including clearing roads and repairing pipes to establish water connections.

Yet the fragility of the ceasefire and the longer-term issues confronting the region continue to focus political minds.

On Saturday, Mr Trump ended Joe Biden’s hold on sending 2000-pound bombs to Israel, which could be used if the ceasefire doesn’t hold: “We released (the bombs) today, they’ve been waiting for them for a long time.”