FOUR young Israeli female soldiers are finally free after 477 brutal days in Hamas captivity.
Karina Ariev, 20, Daniela Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Elbag, 19, were handed over to the Red Cross and taken back to safety with Israeli forces.
AFPThe women were seen being escorted by several Hamas terrorists[/caption]
AFPThey then went on a stage before being handed over to the Red Cross[/caption]
AFPHamas then finally handed them over to a team from the Red Cross in Gaza City, who will drive them to safety[/caption]
AFPPosters of Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniela Gilboa while they were still being held hostage[/caption]
AFPRelatives and friends of Israeli hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip react as they watch the release of the four women soldiers at hostage square in Tel Aviv[/caption]
GettyPeople comfort each other and hold up photos ahead of the release of four Israeli hostages on January 25, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel[/caption]
The four soldiers were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, during the deadly assault on Israel’s Nahal Oz military base.
Their long-awaited release came as armed Hamas fighters surrounded the hostages and dozens of onlookers gathered at the square in Gaza City on Saturday morning.
The women were seen waving from a stage before being handed over to the Red Cross, who drove them to safety.
The IDF has since confirmed the women have now crossed the border into Israel with IDF and Shin Bet forces.
The force said on X on Saturday morning: “The four returning soldiers, Daniela Gilboa, Liri Elbag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, have now crossed the border into Israeli territory with IDF and Shin Bet forces.
“The returnees, accompanied by IDF and Shin Bet forces, recently crossed the border into the territory of the State of Israel and are now on their way to the initial absorption point in the Gaza Strip, where they will meet with their parents.”
“IDF commanders and soldiers salute and embrace the returnees on their way to Israel,” the IDF added earlier today.
Their desperate families are now just moments away from meeting their daughters for the first time in more than a year.
Liri, Naama, Karina and Daniella are now the second group of hostages to be released after three women, including Israeli-Brit Emily Damari, were freed last week.
Under the terms of the fragile ceasefire, Hamas released the soldiers in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
The four women are now expected to be driven to an Israeli army facility near the Gaza border, the IDF said earlier today.
There they will undergo physical and psychological evaluations before tearfully reuniting with their families in hospital.
Crowds gathered at the Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to watch the release.
Dozens of Israelis were seen tearing up at the hopeful scenes while holding posters of other hostages yet to be freed.
For the hostages, the nightmare began on that fateful October morning, when Hamas stormed the Nahal Oz outpost.
ReutersA member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) signs a document as Hamas terrorists prepared to hand the hostages over[/caption]
ReutersIsraeli military helicopters were seen landing near the border ahead of the arrival of released Israeli hostages[/caption]
ReutersHamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists keeping guard as they prepared to release the hostages earlier today[/caption]
AFPMembers of the Israeli security forces at the Shneider Children’s Medical Centre in Petah Tikva preparing for the arrival of the four hostages[/caption]
Videos from the attack showed the young women with their hands tied behind their backs, bloodied and pleading for mercy as Hamas terrorists tormented them.
Liri, just 19 at the time, had been a surveillance soldier for only three days.
Naama, 20, appeared in footage with blood-soaked clothes and visible wounds.
Daniela, also 20, was injured during her abduction and appeared in several Hamas propaganda videos.
And 20-year-old Karina was snatched alongside her fellow soldiers in the pre-dawn chaos.
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online
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Naama (left) and Liri (right) were seen in brutal Hamas videos while in captivity
ReutersDozens of Hamas terrorists shamelessly parade before they hand over the Israeli women[/caption]
EPAThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arriving at the West Bank’s Ofer military prison ahead of the expected release of Palestinian prisoners in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal[/caption]
