In 1st online post, ex-hostage Karina Ariev vows to memorialize comrades who died on Oct. 7

Former hostage Karina Ariev publishes her first Instagram post since her release from Gaza a week ago, thanking the soldiers fighting in Gaza and calling for the release of all the abductees.

“I was held in Hamas captivity for a year and five months. Today, thank God, I am home, in Israel,” writes Ariev, a surveillance soldier who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, from the IDF’s Nahal Oz base.

“From now on, my personal journey, besides rehabilitation and returning to daily life, will include memorialization of my soldier friends, my commanders, colleagues and fighters who fell in the battle in the post where I served — Nahal Oz,” she says.

“I will fight for truth and justice alongside the families,” she adds.

Fifteen surveillance soldiers were killed and seven were taken hostage to Gaza in the attack. One of those hostages was recovered dead after she was murdered in captivity, another was rescued alive, and the remaining five, including Ariev, were released over the past week.

In total, 53 troops were killed in the assault on the base.

Ariev says she’s still trying to absorb the fact that she’s a well-known figure now in Israel and abroad, and has started to try to catch up on all that has happened since she was kidnapped.

“I was there — we mustn’t leave anyone behind,” Ariev adds. “I won’t rest until all are in Israel.”