In a heartbreaking turn of events, the families of five young women held captive by Hamas since October 7 have released a shocking video showing the first moments of their daughters’ captivity. The video depicts terrorists pressing terrified, blood-stained teenage girls against a wall, hurling insults, and making veiled threats of rape.
The footage shows one terrorist pointing at Karina Ariev, 19, who is still in her Snoopy pajamas, having been snatched from her bed. At one point, the terrorist refers to the women as “Sabaya,” an ancient Islamic term for female slaves, adding chillingly in Arabic, “You are so beautiful.”
The video, captured a few hours after the Hamas attack on southern Israel that left 1,200 people dead, shows the terrified teenagers—Liri Albag, 19, Naama Levy, 19, Daniela Gilboa, 20, Agam Berger, 19, and Karina Ariev, 19—with their hands tied behind their backs. They try to communicate with the heavily armed terrorists, who are heard telling each other to “take pictures of them.”
Agam, whose mouth is covered in blood, is asked where she is from. “Israel, Tel Aviv,” the terrified girl responds. The video ends with the girls, visibly injured and in pain, being loaded into a jeep and taken into Gaza. The footage, edited by the IDF to preserve the identities of the murdered, does not show some of the worst violence.
Naama Levy’s oldest brother, Amit Levy, 21, now advocates for the hostages. He described the video as making him feel sick, stating, “It’s unbelievable that human beings are capable of treating other human beings this way.” He emphasized that members of the same terrorist organization are holding the girls now, 230 days later.
The families released this footage as a desperate plea to mediators to restart talks and bring their children home. In November, released hostages reported seeing the girls in captivity. The last sighting of Daniela and Karina was on January 26, in a psychological “proof of life” video made under duress by Hamas.
Amit Levy, currently in London meeting with politicians, called his sister a superhero, saying, “She is an athlete and it gives me strength to know how mentally strong she is. She’s amazing. In the video, you can hear her say she has friends in Palestine. She really believes in building bridges and peace.”
The Hostages Families Forum released a statement with the video, calling it a “damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages.” They demanded that the Israeli government return to the negotiating table immediately, emphasizing that there is no greater mission than the return of all hostages.
On Monday, Amit was joined by Ilay David, 27, and Gal Gilboa Dalal, 29, whose brothers were also taken by Hamas. Speaking from the Israel embassy in central London, they urged the world not to forget about their siblings’ plight. While they expressed frustration with the situation, they also conveyed hope and trust in the IDF and the Israeli government to do everything possible to secure the hostages’ release.
Source: CNN
