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Kidnapping of Liri Albag
Israeli hostage taken by Hamas in 2023 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Liri Albag (Hebrew: לירי אלבג) is an Israeli woman serving in Israel Defense Forces who was kidnapped in Nahal Oz during October 7 attacks by Hamas.[1] Albag's experience as a hostage held by Hamas for 477 days received significant national and international media attention,[2][3] not only because of the duration and harshness of her captivity[4][5][6] but also due to her actions during that time. Albag emerged as a leader among the hostages, communicating with captors on behalf of others. She was credited with saving the life of fellow hostage Amit Soussana by convincing captors that Soussana was not an IDF officer, likely preventing her execution.[7]
Albag's ordeal and subsequent release were the subject of major interviews and media reports,[8][9][10] where she spoke about the psychological and physical trauma endured, as well as her perspectives on the ongoing conflict.[11][12] After her release, Albag became a public advocate for remaining hostages and has spoken at public events.[13][14] Albag has decided to resume her military service, a decision covered by major Israeli news outlets and seen as a symbol of resilience and commitment.[15][16][17] Albag’s experiences and actions have made her a recognized figure in Israel and internationally, especially in the context of the Israel-Hamas conflict and the campaign for the release of hostages.[18][19]
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Biography
Albag was born in Matan,[20] the daughter of Shira and Eli Elbag; she had three siblings and lived in Moshav Yarhiv at the time of her kidnapping.[20] At age 18, she enlisted in the Israeli Defence Forces and trained to be a lookout, after which she was assigned to the Nahal Oz outpost. Two days into her service after completing her training, Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.[21][22]
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Albag was serving as a female observer at the Nahal Oz base when the outpost was attacked and overrun by Hamas early in the morning of 7 October 2023. When the attack began, Albag was off-duty and asleep in the sleeping quarters along with fellow observers Naama Levy and Noam Abramowitz; they were awakened at 6:30 by the start of a rocket attack on the base and rushed to a bomb shelter, along with a number of other off-duty female personnel of the base.[23] Hamas members who had entered the base stormed the shelter and killed most of the occupants, capturing the seven survivors, including Albag, who in a video published several months later was seen asking for someone who could speak English. Along with fellow observers Agam Berger, Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa, Albag was loaded in a military jeep and taken to the Gaza Strip.[24][25]
Captivity in Gaza Strip
After arriving in Gaza, Albag and the other captured observers were initially held in an apartment, where after two days Albag and Berger were separated from Ariev and Gilboa. Albag would spend the entirety of her captivity together with Berger, being joined at times by a number of other hostages, including Naama Levy, Keith and Aviva Siegel, the Almog-Goldstein family, Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, Amit Soussana, and Dafna and Ella Elyakim.[26]
Initially Albag and other female captives were held in private homes, including a luxury villa, where they cleaned yards, did dishes, babysat the children of the families of their captors, and prepared food that they were not allowed to eat. After 40 days, they were moved to underground tunnels.[27] She later described being held for some time in an underground cage roughly 2×2 meters in area and 1.6 meters high, along with four more young women, where they were fed "a quarter of a pita, a date and half a bowl of rice a day"; there was a hole in the floor some 800 meters away for them to use as a toilet.[28]
When Hamas became convinced that civilian hostage Amit Soussana was an IDF officer and tortured her for information, Albag saved her life by persuading their captors that Soussana was not, indeed, an IDF officer.[20][29][30] In one instance, Albag asked for Chanukah candles[31] and would later declare "that the only thing I did not lose was Judaism."[24]
On 4 January 2025, the Al-Qassam Brigades published a video where Albag stated that "the Israeli army's military operations will not succeed in rescuing the captives."[32]
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Release
On 24 January 2025, Hamas announced that Albag and three other female IDF soldiers would be released the next day as part of the hostage exchange during the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire. For each female soldier released by Hamas, Israel agreed to release 50 Palestinian prisoners it held, of whom 30 were serving life sentences.[22][33]
On January 25, Albag and fellow IDF observers Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, and Daniella Gilboa were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross in Palestine Square in Gaza.[34][35][36]
After her release
In June 2025, Albag declared her intention to return to the Israel Defense Forces.[37]
During Operation True Promise III she stated that Iranian intelligence benefits from published photos of Israel and these should be avoided.[38]
In July 2025, Albag met with Gal Gadot along with freed hostages Doron Steinbrecher, Naama Levy, Moran Stella Yanai, and Ilana Gritzewsky.[39]
References
External links
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