Israeli women soldiers reunited with families

Nineteen-year-old Liri Albag rushes into her parents’ arms, igniting screams of joy.

“My beauty. You’re a hero. You’re home. That’s it,” her mother says as the three laugh and cry together.

The moment, filmed by the Israeli military, was the first time the family had seen each other in more than 15 months.

Liri was among the first Israelis to be taken hostage in the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, when the military base on the Gaza border where she was serving was overrun.

She was among four female soldiers to be returned to Israel on Saturday as part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Two hundred Palestinian prisoners were released in return.

“The feeling of relief and happiness envelops us after 477 long and unbearable days of nerve-wracking waiting,” her family said in a statement shortly after her return.

Crowds had gathered in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday morning, watching a live news feed from Gaza on a large screen as they waited for the group to be brought back to Israel.

Released alongside Liri were soldiers Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, all aged 20.

Cheers erupted as the women appeared, flanked by masked gunmen from Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades, for a staged handover in Gaza City’s Palestine Square. They held hands and waved, before being taken away in Red Cross vehicles.

“It’s amazing. They’re amazing. Did you see them stand and smile?” one woman watching the live feed with the crowd in Tel Aviv said.

In the crowd watching in Gaza, one man told the BBC Hamas was returning the hostages in an “honourable way” and declared the moment a victory for the group.

The women were then transferred to the Israeli military and later brought by helicopter to a hospital.

In a press briefing, the director of Beilinson Hospital, Dr Lena Koren Feldman, described the released hostages as being in a “stable condition”, but said they would continue to be given a “comprehensive medical and emotional evaluation”.

They were the second group of hostages to be released under a ceasefire deal, aimed at bringing a permanent end to the war, which began a week ago following months of negotiations.

The four women were taken hostage on 7 October from the Nahal Oz military base, about a kilometre from the Gaza border fence.

They were part of an unarmed all-female unit of observers, known as tatzpitaniyot in Hebrew, whose role was to study live surveillance footage captured by cameras along the high-tech fence and look out for signs of anything suspicious.

Several conscripts from the unit and families of those who were killed have said that they had been warning that an attack was coming in the months before 7 October.

It was clear there was a “balloon that was going to burst”, one told the BBC.

The Israeli military has previously said it is in the midst of a “thorough investigation into the events of 7 October, including those in Nahal Oz, and the circumstances preceding”.

One woman from the unit, Agam Berger, remains in Gaza. In a statement on Saturday, her family said they were “overjoyed and moved” by the return of the four others, while they continued to “eagerly await embracing Agam, God willing, in the coming week”.

Another woman who served in the unit with them, but was not on shift on 7 October, told the BBC: “I have been very emotional…This feels like sisters coming home.”

“God willing, we will all sit together and talk, but of course no pressure. They have to heal first.”

For families of the observers who were killed on 7 October, it was a bittersweet moment.

“This is a very emotional day for us,” said Elad Levy, whose niece Roni served alongside the four women but was killed in the attacks.

“We are very happy to see Karina, Daniella, Liri and Naama coming back home to their families. At the same time, we remember that there are hostages still in Gaza. And for us, we remember Roni who will never come back home.”

Israel had expected female civilian hostage Arbel Yehud to be included in Saturday’s release, and accused Hamas of breaching the terms of the ceasefire to prioritise female civilians. Hamas said Ms Yehud will be released next weekend.

Another female civilian who is yet to be released is Shiri Bibas, who was taken hostage with her husband and two young children, Ariel and Kfir.