{"id":13608,"date":"2025-01-25T21:52:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T19:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rega.news\/?p=13608"},"modified":"2025-01-26T00:55:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T22:55:29","slug":"former-hostages-describe-harrowing-conditions-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/former-hostages-describe-harrowing-conditions-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Hostages Describe Harrowing Captivity Conditions in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Caring for Each Other and Preserving Their Strength  <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to their accounts, during the initial days of captivity, an older hostage helped secure food and arranged showers for them. However, they later learned that this individual had been killed. The women described being moved from place to place, sometimes through tunnels and other times in buildings across Gaza, as Hamas attempted to conceal them from Palestinian civilians.  <\/p>\n<p>The women were held in degrading conditions, with poor sanitation, often going long periods without bathing. They were forced to cook and clean for their captors, even during times when food was scarce. Despite these challenges, they managed to maintain their morale. The captors mockingly referred to them as \u201cthe soldiers,\u201d but the women refused to break.  <\/p>\n<p>Liri Albag, described as \u201cthe leader of the group,\u201d took care of her friends and kept the group\u2019s spirits up during their most challenging moments.  <\/p>\n<p>The women revealed that they were with fellow captive Agam Berger throughout most of their time in Gaza. However, in the final days before their release, they were separated from her, making the end of their captivity particularly difficult.  <\/p>\n<p>During their time in captivity, they were exposed to broadcasts from networks like Al Jazeera and received updates about the IDF\u2019s operations in Gaza from their captors. They recalled learning about the collapse of a building in December 2023 that claimed the lives of 21 soldiers, noting that the fighting during that period felt especially intense.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Strength and Defiance: \u201cWe Showed Them We\u2019re Stronger Than This\u201d  <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Their resilience peaked during a staged display by Hamas at the time of their release. Despite the pressure, the women refused to succumb. \u201cWe showed them on that stage that it didn\u2019t faze us. We\u2019re stronger than this,\u201d they said.  <\/p>\n<p>Returning in relatively good physical condition, the women recounted their ordeal with humor. They joked about learning Arabic during captivity and quipped with the helicopter crew that brought them back to Israel, suggesting the crew give instructions in Arabic because \u201cwe don\u2019t understand Hebrew anymore.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Public Support Strengthened Their Hope  <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to a report from <em>Keshet<\/em>, the observers told their families that the public campaign for their release bolstered their hope while in captivity. They shared how they saw their pictures on posters across Israel and laughed about the photos selected for these campaigns. Liri Albag mentioned noticing a hat with the word \u201cHope,\u201d which her family had designed based on her tattoo.  <\/p>\n<p>Additionally, it was noted that Naama Levy was held alongside Doron Steinbrecher, who was released the previous week. The two maintained their fitness and coped with captivity by doing joint exercise routines.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The return of the four female observers, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Karina Ariev, today (Saturday) offered a first glimpse into the harrowing experiences they endured during their time in Hamas captivity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,85,6],"tags":[2728,1482,2731,2730],"class_list":["post-13608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-idf","category-positive-moment","category-security","tag-agam-berger","tag-hostages","tag-liri-albag","tag-naama-levy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former Hostages Describe Harrowing Captivity Conditions in Gaza - 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