‘I went into survival mode’: Liri Albag recalls October 7 Hamas kidnapping

Former hostage Liri Albag is interviewed on Channel 12 on March 5, 2025. (Screen capture/Channel 12)
Former hostage Liri Albag is interviewed on Channel 12 on March 5, 2025. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Former hostage Liri Albag gives her first interview since her release in January.

“The truth is that October 7th feels like one long nightmare, and I’ve been waiting for someone to wake me up, for someone to tell me I was dreaming. But it didn’t happen. Unfortunately, this has all been real,” she tells Channel 12.

Albag recalls the day she was kidnapped along with other female surveillance soldiers at the Nachal Oz military base.

“You see evil and hatred in their eyes,” she says.

“I was sure that the moment we stood there tied up that they were going to slaughter us — shoot us one by one,” Albag says. “I went into survival mode.”

“They told us, ‘If you listen to us, we won’t kill you. You’re coming with us to Gaza.’ And we told them, ‘Yes, take us to Gaza.'”

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