‘How can we look you in the eyes?’ Ex-hostage shares new images of time in captivity
Agam Goldstein-Almog, kidnapped with her mother and brothers after her father and sister were murdered, asks Israeli leaders, ‘How much longer will you ask them to survive like this?’
Former hostage Agam Goldstein-Almog released never-before-seen photos on Sunday showing her in captivity in Gaza with her younger brothers, alongside a plea aimed at Israel’s leaders to bring the remaining hostages home.
Agam was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, at age 17, along with her mother, Chen, and her two younger brothers, Gal and Tal, from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her father, Nadav, and sister, Yam, were murdered by Hamas terrorists during the attack.
Goldstein-Almog posted the images on Instagram on Sunday, along with a message aimed at the Israeli government and those involved in mediated negotiations with Hamas for a hostage release deal, hinting at the horrors she witnessed and experienced during her time in captivity.
“Sitting in a tunnel in Gaza, being photographed and asking to go home,” she wrote in a caption alongside the photo. “With tired, frightened eyes that a day earlier saw the worst things possible, and afraid of what they will see in the future.”
“Today is November 3, 2024, and on this date last year I did not know that I would be released in three weeks, I did not know if I would even survive, if I would meet more hostages,” she continued. “I was afraid of what my eyes would see. I did not want to see more disasters, more pain.”
“I will probably never be able to tell what those eyes saw. Those eyes that looked every day at the clock, waiting, not knowing why.”
She continued: “Those eyes that saw up close at the hostages there. I looked into your eyes and I didn’t know it would take so long. How can we look you in the eyes? What will we say to you? What have they done to you there since we left you? Today I see you in my eyes, and I see people for whom you are not the top priority.”
“I see all of you, and then I see your mother fighting for you wherever possible. I see two worlds and I know what you see there. Look into my eyes, lost and exhausted in the photo, and tell me that I will have to survive like this for another 51 days. I would not believe it,” she added.
“And I am angry, because if they had released me a week earlier, I would have been saved from so much. Even one day earlier,” Goldstein-Almog said pivoting her remarks towards Israel’s leaders.
“So what can I say about them? Soon it will be 400 days and how much could we save their eyes from seeing and how much are we adding with every moment of postponement and delay? Look them in the eyes, how much longer will you ask them to survive like this?”
The images appeared to have been obtained by the IDF during their operations in Gaza. Agam, her mother and brothers were released on November 26 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal.
Since her release, Agam has spoken out about her time in captivity, and about meeting other female Israeli hostages who told her that they had been sexually assaulted by their Hamas captors.
Long-stalled negotiations for a ceasefire-hostage deal were renewed last month after Israel killed Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar in mid-October. Mossad chief David Barnea held discussions with mediators Egypt, Qatar, and the United States in Doha and Cairo last week.
Two of the possible hostage deals currently being discussed are an Egyptian proposal to release four hostages during a two-day ceasefire, and a multi-stage, Qatari-American proposal that would ultimately see all hostages released and the war ended.
Hamas has rejected the proposed deals, insisting that any agreement include an upfront commitment by Israel to end the war and withdraw all its forces from Gaza. Israel has in the past been accused by mediators of hindering progress in negotiations on several occasions by introducing new demands.
Demonstrators rallying for a hostage deal gathered across Israel on Saturday night.
Ninety-seven of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF, with just over 100 freed in the same deal that saw Agam released, as well as eight rescued alive by troops and the bodies of 37 recovered by the IDF.
