Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip — The family of Israeli soldier Liri Albag, who was kidnapped by Hamas militants in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, authorized the release of new photos of the teenage hostage. The images are stills from a video Hamas shared on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Albag, speaking under duress, expressed anguish over her situation and mentioned being held 450 days.
"Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness,” she said. Albag also said a fellow captive was injured by the fighting in Gaza, adding, “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare.” She did not name the person injured.
Shortly after the video's release, Albag's family shared the following statement.
“Today's video has torn our hearts to pieces. This is not the daughter and sister we know. She is not well - her severe psychological distress is evident. We watched our heroic Liri surviving and pleading for her life. She is just dozens of kilometers away from us, yet for 456 days we have been unable to bring her home. We appeal to the Prime Minister, world leaders, and all decision makers: It's time to make decisions as if your own children were there! Liri is alive and must return alive! This depends only on you! You must not miss this current opportunity to bring them back. All of them.“
Hamas' unprecedented Oct. 7 attack left at least 1,200 Israelis (mostly civilians) dead. The militants abducted around 250 people that day. At least 100 are believed to remain in Gaza, with at least a third believed to be dead.
Families of hostages and others have rallied weekly for months to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire deal that would bring loved ones home.
Netanyahu's office said he spoke with Albag's parents and told them that “efforts are ongoing, including at this very moment” to bring hostages home.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 45,717 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which said women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. It says uncounted bodies remain beneath rubble or in areas where emergency responders cannot reach.
Israel’s military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times. Winter has now arrived, and hundreds of thousands are sheltering in tents near the sea. A small number of children have died from exposure to the cold.
Gaza's Health Ministry in a statement Saturday asserted that Indonesian Hospital was no longer operational after Israeli operations in the area and said all public hospitals in the north, largely isolated by a monthslong Israeli offensive, were now out of service.
Copyright MSM/AP