“It’s not a cliché about hell. It was truly hell. You could see the evil and hatred in their eyes.”
Liri Albag was serving as a female combat intelligence observer at the Nahal Oz military base when Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. As an observer, Albag and her fellow female soldiers were responsible for monitoring Israel’s borders, detecting threats, and relaying intelligence to prevent attacks.
That morning, her base was among the first targets of the Hamas assault. The terrorist group had spent years studying IDF operations, knowing that the female observers stationed at Nahal Oz played a crucial role in identifying threats and coordinating responses.
As the base came under heavy rocket fire and infiltration, Albag and her fellow soldiers—young women tasked with protecting Israel’s border—found themselves outnumbered, unarmed, and defenseless. Hamas terrorists stormed the compound, massacring soldiers and abducting those they could capture alive.
Albag was kidnapped along with several other female IDF observers and taken across the border into Gaza, where they were paraded through the streets like trophies as Palestinian civilians cheered, spat at them, and celebrated their capture.
Now that she is free, Liri Albag is shattering the myth of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, describing the horrors she endured during her captivity. Speaking out about her time in Hamas captivity, flanked by her parents on either side, she recounted the brutality and deep-seated hatred she witnessed firsthand.
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“Gazan children and women were running after us as their men paraded us; they had evil in their eyes, denying the Holocaust and telling us how genius Hitler was,” she revealed.
Her testimony, delivered with raw emotion, paints a grim picture of the environment inside Gaza, where even civilians participated in the dehumanization of hostages.
A Story That Must Be Heard
Albag’s harrowing experience should be compulsory viewing for all, particularly on International Women’s Day, as a stark reminder of the unimaginable suffering inflicted upon innocent civilians.
When asked what she missed most while being held hostage, Albag—who was forced to drink seawater—simply replied:
“A glass of cold water.”
Her words serve as a powerful reminder of the inhumane conditions hostages endured and the urgent need to bring the remaining captives home.
