Chilling footage released on Wednesday captures the moment on October 7 when five female Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and transported to Gaza while soaked in blood and surrounded by the bodies of their slain comrades.
The young women, who were working at the Nahal Oz facility outside of the Gaza Strip, were tied and held up against a wall while still in their pajamas, the bodycam footage from Hamas gunmen shows. The attackers could be heard boasting and revealing their plans to sexually abuse the soldiers in the graphic footage. These are the horrifying first moments of the five youngest women held in Gaza since October 7.
Spine-Chilling Video of Torture
Now the parents of Liri Albag, 19, Naama Levy, 19, Daniela Gilboa, 20, Agam Berger, 19, and Karina Ariev, 19, have made the heartbreaking decision to release the footage as their daughters continue to be held hostage more than seven months later.
It shows one terrorist pointing at Karina, who is still in her Snoopy pajamas after being taken from her bed.
At one point, the terrorist appears to refer to the women as Sabaya, an ancient Islamic term that can describe females as slaves.
"Here are the girls who can get pregnant," one of the gunmen said.
He adds chillingly in Arabic: "You are so beautiful."
Another shouts, "You dogs, we will step on you," as Naama is seen bleeding severely, her face pushed against the wall.
"I have friends in Palestine," says the teenager, who volunteered for Palestinian charities and dreams of becoming a diplomat.
Liri attempted to communicate that she could speak English, but the terrorists screamed at them to be silent and sit down.
"Our brothers died because of you, we will shoot you all," they tell the girls.
Traumatic Experience for Families of Hostages
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which released the video, said that the harrowing tape depicts the horrifying reality of the five hostages still in the clutches of the terror group in Gaza.
After the terrorists paused to pray, they could be seen hauling the injured women into the back of a car amid a barrage of gunfire in the background. Several of the women were limping and struggling to get to the vehicle, while some of the terrorists shouted at them to leave their friends' bodies behind.
The final moments of the video show the women packed into the back of the car as dozens of angry screams are heard while the vehicle drove off.
Albag's mother, Shira, said it was hard to stomach the video, noting that families were allowed to view an uncensored version before it was released to the public.
Berger's father, Shlomi, told The New York Post that he couldn't imagine what it felt like for his 19-year-old daughter to face those threats while surrounded by dozens of armed men.
"This is a wakeup call to the world: look what we're dealing with," Shlomi said. "You saw how many terrorists were in that video.
"You only see three minutes but we know that they sat in the same place for two or three hours, and in front of their eyes they saw their friends that were murdered on the floor," he added.
"Maybe they told themselves, 'I'm lucky, I'm just wounded.' But I don't know how someone can be in this situation and be okay in their mind."
Shlomi, who was shown the video last month, said he could see just how afraid his daughter and her fellow soldiers were. "When they said, 'You are pretty,' and 'I can get you pregnant,' I don't know what a young girl who is hearing this is thinking," the father lamented.
"It's crazy as a father that my girl is in that situation and I can't help her. I can't do anything to help her."
The women are among the approximately 100 hostages who have remained in Hamas captivity for more than seven months.
"The video is a damning testament to the nation's failure to bring home the hostages, who have been forsaken for 229 days," the group said in a statement urging that the hostage exchange talks with Hamas resume.
"The Israeli government must not waste even one more moment — it must return to the negotiating table today!"
