The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Wednesday evening released a video of Hamas terrorists abducting female Israel Defense Forces spotters on Oct. 7.
Footage taken by body cameras of the terrorists reveals the violence and trauma experienced by five of the seven spotters captured alive from the Nahal Oz base. Another 15 field observers serving there were murdered during the attack.
The video running time is 3 minutes and 10 seconds. It was edited and censored to exclude the most disturbing scenes, including the corpses of those murdered at Nahal Oz and inside the bomb shelter where the soldiers were captured.
“The footage reveals the violent, humiliating, and traumatizing treatment the girls endured on the day of their abduction, their eyes filled with raw terror,” said the forum.
The group represents the families of the hostages taken to Gaza during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught on the northwestern Negev. One hundred twenty-eight captives remain in Gaza out of the 252 kidnapped.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “shocked by the video showing the kidnapping of our dear observers.
“We will continue to do everything to return them home. The brutality of these Hamas terrorists only reinforces my determination to fight with full strength until Hamas is eliminated, to ensure that what we saw tonight will never be repeated,” added the premier.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “This video shows the harrowing moments on October 7th that five young female soldiers from a lookout post protecting towns and Kibbutzim in southern Israel, were beaten, threatened with rape, and brutally taken hostage by Hamas terrorists.
“The video has been released by the brave families and we continue to offer them all our strength and love. Liri, Karina, Agam, Daniella, and Naama are all still in Hamas captivity and we are fighting to bring them home as well as all other hostages—128 in total!” he continued.
The Israeli head of state concluded, “The world must look at this cruel atrocity. Those who care about women’s rights must speak out. All those who believe in freedom must speak out, and do everything possible to bring all of the hostages home now.”
The decision to release the video was made by the families of the five spotters who remain in Gaza captivity 229 days later: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy.
The other two observers captured alive were Ori Megidish, whom the IDF rescued in October, and Noa Marciano, who was murdered by a doctor at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital and whose body was recovered by the IDF in November and returned to Israel for burial.
Roni Albag, sister of 19-year-old hostage Liri Albag, who appears in the video wearing a blue sweatshirt, told JNS on Wednesday, “It was very hard for us to see Liri in her most difficult moments, the fear in her eyes, death all around her as some of her friends were killed.
“I cried for two straight days, I couldn’t think of the fact that she is there, that I couldn’t protect and fight for her,” said Roni. “I see her face and the fear in her eyes every night before going to sleep and every morning when I wake up.”
Roni explained that family members first saw the footage a month ago.
“Originally, we did not want to release it to the world to protect the girls. We did not want the world to see them in such difficult moments and we didn’t want it out there once they returned,” she said. “But we felt that we no longer had a choice. We needed the world to remember what Israel went through on October 7 and that 128 hostages are still held captive in hell.
“The world should be outraged by this footage and must help us get them out,” Roni said.
“We can’t lose hope. There are still a lot of people alive waiting to be saved and Liri is one of them,” she continued. “We will do everything for her to see her home again, hold us and come back to her life.
“It stresses me out to no end, I am her big sister,” said Roni. “To know what she went through and what she is still going through. This is a war crime and a crime against humanity. This is not a game, this is the life of people.”
The forum published chilling screenshots from the video, including a caption of a Hamas terrorist saying “You are so beautiful” while the young recruits are being zip-tied.
“Every new testimony about what happened to the hostages echoes the same tragic truth—we must bring them all back home, now. The State of Israel cannot accept a reality where its citizens constantly feel their lives are threatened and suffer from unrelenting fear and anxiety,” said the forum.
“With each passing day, it becomes more challenging to bring the hostages back home—the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for proper burial. The Israeli government must not waste another moment; it must return to the negotiating table today!”