The family of Lili Arbag, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier who has been held by Hamas since October 7, 2023, said in a recent video released by the extremist group on Saturday that she was “devastated and devastated.” He said it looked like it had been washed away. In the three-and-a-half minute video, Albag, in obvious pain, talks about being held captive for more than 450 days.
“Today we received signs of life from Lili. The video is difficult to watch,” her mother, Shira Albag, said in a statement. “This is not the Lili we know. This is Lili’s shadow.”
יירה אלבג, אמה של לירי אלבג; That’s right. that’s right. זאילא לירי שאנחנו מכירים. Name: number, number, number, number, number, number, number, number, number, number, number, number, number Yeah. that’s right. 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 109 109 109 109 109 109 109 108 pic.twitter.com/hjBHYKxXMP
— Raz Shechnik (@RazShechnik) January 4, 2025
“This is not the daughter and sister we knew. Her condition is poor and her difficult mental state is clear,” the family said in a lengthy statement quoted by the Times of Israel. Ta. “Lili, who was always strong, seems to have broken and shattered.”
Lili Arbag, a guard stationed at the Nahal Oz military base near the Gaza border, was one of 251 people abducted during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel. One of the seven guards taken was rescued, and the other was found dead in captivity. Lili Albag and four others, Karina Aliyev, Agam Berger, Nama Levi and Daniela Gilboa, remain in Gaza.
“The time is now. Lili and the other 99 hostages need to return home immediately,” Albag’s mother said. “Every day in Hamas’s hellhole in Gaza poses an imminent risk of death for living hostages and jeopardizes the ability to retrieve the dead for proper burial.”
The al-Bagh family appealed directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking the government to prioritize the release of the hostages. “We saw our heroic Lili survive and beg for her life. She is tens of kilometers from us and we will not be able to bring her home for 456 days. ” they said. “When it comes to hostages, judge them as if your own children were there. Lili is alive, and she has to come back alive! It’s up to you.”
An attack by Hamas on October 7, supported by allied groups, killed around 1,200 Israelis. Since then, Israel has relentlessly targeted schools, hospitals, neighborhoods and camps housing internally displaced persons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government remains on the offensive in Gaza, with unwavering support from the United States. Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and forced the evacuation of nearly the entire population of the heavily populated area.
