The five Israeli girls who were abducted together on October 7 were “held as slaves”, the mother of one of them has revealed.
Liri Albag’s mother Shiri said that in a conversation with Noa Argamani, the hostage who was freed in a rescue operation just over a week ago, “Noa said that they were slaves, and so were the [female soldiers], including Liri…They cleaned the yard, did dishes and prepared food that they were not allowed to eat.”
Her daughter, 19, was initially held in a "luxury villa", said Shiri, before being moved into Hamas’ network of underground tunnels. She said that her daughter had only been allowed to shower after a month in captivity.
Shiri added: "After 40 days, they took her down to the tunnels. It's much worse. There is only salt water and not much food. No clothes to change into…I don’t want to imagine what they’re going through now.”
Addressing the Mayors’ Forum in Israel on Friday, Shiri said: "I know this from the women who returned after 50 days. Some 200 days have passed since then, and they have not seen the light of day. They have not seen their mothers and fathers. The freed hostages told us that the young girls cried on the 50th day, saying they missed their mothers. I don't want to imagine what are they going through now."
Liri was kidnapped along with four other IDF spotters - Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Na’ama Levy – from the Nahal Oz base on October 7.
116 hostages are still in Gaza, having been held there for over eight months.
