From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 27, 2025
Mom of freed hostage: Family never believed Hamas ‘mind game’ as if she was killed
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At a press conference yesterday by relatives of the four IDF soldiers released on Saturday, the mother of returned captive Daniella Gilboa indicated that the family had never believed a Hamas statement that had made it seem like she had been killed in captivity.
During her speech at Rabin Medical Center, Orly Gilboa thanked the Israeli public and world Jewry for supporting and standing with the family “also when it seemed like the worst had happened to her” — referring to a Hamas statement and image published in November.
“You believed with us that Daniella was okay, that it was just a cruel mind game Hamas was playing on us,” she said.
At the time, a spokesman for Hamas’s military wing claimed that “one of the enemy’s female prisoners was killed in an area that is under Zionist aggression in the northern Gaza Strip.” Alongside the statement, Hamas published a blurred picture of a body it claimed belonged to the slain hostage. While it did not identify the woman, the image quickly led to speculation it could be Daniella Gilboa since it featured a tattoo identical to one she had.
The IDF said at the time that it was “unable to verify or refute” the Hamas claim, which has been proven false.
The Times of Israel Community.