Three months after October 7, the parents of the four youngest hostages held by Hamas shared a heartwrenching interview with the Daily Mail in which they revealed the harrowing photos they received on October 7, demanding the immediate release of their children.
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The images, taken just hours after their abduction, showed the terrified and bloodied faces of four young women, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa and Agam Berger.
The concerned parents urged mothers and fathers around the world to speak out as increasingly gruesome details about the hostages' stay in captivity come to light. "Imagine if it was your daughter, your little girl in their hands," Daniela's mother Orly, 38, said. "What would you imagine?"
Eli, Liri's father, 18 years old from Moshav Yarhav: "Imagine that one day you have no contact with your daughter, and you know she is in the hands of bad people. Now tell me what you say after 90 days. It kills us. Every minute feels like an hour."
"Think for one day that you don't have connection with your daughter and you know they are in the hands of bad people. Then tell me what you would say after 90 days. This is killing us. Every minute is like an hour," said Liri's father Eli, 54.
The first sign of life following the abduction was a brief video released by Hamas depicting the kidnapping to Gaza. In another video, hostages were seen being loaded onto trucks at gunpoint. Subsequent testimonies revealed harrowing accounts of rape on the day of the massacre and other atrocities committed during captivity.
"We understood exactly what they did on October 7," said Daniela's mother, whose daughter is a talented musician who dreamed of becoming a singer. "If they can do such things, what can they do in 90 days? I don't want to imagine what they are going through."
"We understood exactly what they did on October 7," said Mrs Gilboa, whose daughter Daniela, 19, is a gifted musician who dreamed of becoming a singer. "If they are capable of this, what are they doing for 90 days? I don't want to imagine what is going on."
The families are helping each other cope. "We cry together a lot. We speak a lot, we understand each other," said Shira Albag, 51, a mother of four and an account manager whose youngest daughter Liri planned to travel the world.
Agam, 19, from Holon is a gifted violinist who had a promising future. "We heard about the sexual abuses," her father Shlomi Berger, 52, said. "As a father, I can't imagine these things. The family's torn apart."
Karina Ariev, 19, from Jerusalem, is also held hostage by Hamas. Her only sister Sasha told the Daily Mail "It's misery, it's helpless. My mother's in a terrible situation, she doesn't know what to do."
Chen Goldstein-Almog, who was released from captivity along with three of her children — Agam, 17, Gal, 11, and Tal, 9 — said she saw some of the young women during her 51 days in captivity.
"Some of them are close in age to my daughters and I hugged them so hard," said the social worker, who lost her daughter Yam, 20, and husband Nadav in the October 7 attack.
"There were girls who spent 50 days and more alone. When they were sad, crying, their captors would stroke them and touch them. They described accounts of sexual abuse under gunpoint on a regular basis.
"Some of the girls were badly wounded and haven't been getting proper medical care. Gunshot wounds, even lost limbs. They said they can cope with the disability but not with the manner they were constantly violated.
"They are strong and haven't lost hope. But they were on the edge five weeks ago when we separated from them. They need to be released. They cannot be there for one more day."