Five Israeli teenage girls were violently abducted by Hamas terrorists from Nahal Oz army base on October 7 – Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa, and Naama Levy. Last week, their families made the bold decision to release harrowing footage of their capture to highlight their terrifying, ongoing ordeal.
The video, taken by the terrorists themselves on their GoPro cameras at around 9 a.m., shows the distraught, frightened, bound, and bloodied teens lined up against a wall, being abused and threatened.
“You dogs, we will step on you,” one Hamas fighter can be heard saying. “Here, these are the girls who can get pregnant,” says another, chillingly, a bit later on.
Their plight has since become synonymous with that of all Israeli women who suffered sexual violence at the hands of the terrorists on that day, many of whom were gang-raped before being slaughtered. Among them were young female soldiers who served alongside the five girls in the video, who witnessed the brutal murders of their friends.
Many remain silent
The ongoing struggle of Israeli women to be heard and believed has drawn outrage in some quarters, while others, including many women’s groups, have remained silent on the subject.
Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa, and Naama Levy have not been seen or heard from since their terrifying ordeal, which ended with them being dragged to a waiting vehicle on their bare, injured feet, and taken hostage into Gaza – where they remain, almost eight months later.
WITH NO information on the girls, and seemingly no end in sight to their ongoing nightmare, their families agonized over whether to release the footage, Eli Albag, Liri’s father, told Channel 12 News. “We are exposing ourselves and our daughters,” he began. “We went back and forth over and over about whether to release it.”
Once the decision had been made to share the footage – which ran for more than 13 minutes – they then had to decide which parts they wanted to share with the public. A heartbreaking decision, on any view.
“This is the most sensitive version… and still terribly harsh,” said Albag, before describing in some detail what his daughter and her friends had to endure on that day, and the constant pain the families are living with. “It’s been 229 days since then, and we are living it minute by minute,” he shared.
“I have no words to describe the horrors. At that base, 54 male and female soldiers were murdered. Those girls sat for two hours with 11 bodies of female soldiers and one male soldier in their line of sight.”
With nowhere left to go, the families of the girls did what they had to do to be heard: “What else can we say? Where else can we shout? What else can we do to wake the nation up?” Albag cried.
Ayelet Shahar Levy, mother of 19-year-old peace activist Naama Levy, who appeared in the video with a blood-smeared face, hopes that the release of the footage would jolt the decision makers into action – although sadly, not all agreed to watch it, she confirmed. “Who needs to see this film?” she asked rhetorically. “Apart from the parents, we thought the decision-makers — the ministers, the cabinet — that was the important thing. And not all agreed to watch it.”
Liri Albag’s sister, Shay, believes it is important for the world to see the cruel, inhuman treatment that her sister and her friends were subjected to, so people will be aware of the danger that they, and all of the hostages, continue to face on a daily basis.
“It was so important for us to publish this footage so that the entire world sees these are animals, and it will take time to digest it,” she told the Kan public broadcaster.
HEEDING THE wishes of the girls’ families, many took to social media to watch and share the harrowing footage as soon as it was released.
Others, however, did not feel that it was advisable, preferring instead to share photos of the girls smiling and carefree in happier times.
While of course this reminds us all of those five young women, it doesn’t highlight their ongoing suffering – and completely misses the point, in my view.
This wasn’t the time for sentiment or censorship as the families made their wishes clear: they wanted the world to see the footage and it was our job to respect their wishes and share it.
Of course, when sharing footage of this nature, it’s important to do so responsibly – with a warning, for example. As one woman pointed out, its contents could be overwhelming and dangerous, even for adults.
The risk of suffering secondary trauma, by being exposed to people inflicting cruelty on others, is very real and must not be ignored. Those who chose to watch the footage may find it helpful to share their feelings with someone to lighten the load, she suggested.
As harrowing as it is – and let’s not forget, what was shown is not even a fraction of what the girls went through – many believe that releasing the footage was a powerful move by the hostages’ families.
With the global explosion in antisemitism since October 7, and the distortion of events from that day becoming ever more prevalent, each of us must play our part in fighting this growing menace to society.
While it’s important to safeguard our own mental health and that of those around us, it’s also crucial that we do whatever we can to support the hostages and their families.
With the ability to make a difference, however slight – with just the touch of a button – it’s incumbent on us all to adhere to the families’ wishes and keep sharing the video until their girls, and indeed all of the hostages, come home.
The writer is a former lawyer from the UK who now lives and works in Israel as a freelance writer for The Jerusalem Post.