Mother of captive soldier: Noa Argamani told us female hostages were held as slaves in luxury villa

The mother of Liri Albag, a 19-year-old female soldier abducted on October 7, shares information about her daughter that she received from Noa Argamani, who was rescued from captivity in Gaza last week.

“Noa said that they were slaves, and so were the [female soldiers], including Liri,” Shira Albag says in a statement. “They cleaned the yard, did dishes and prepared food that they were not allowed to eat.”

She says her daughter was held in a luxury villa and was only allowed to shower after a month in captivity. After 40 days, according to Shira Albag, Liri was moved into Hamas’s network of underground tunnels.

“There it’s much worse, there’s no fresh water, and not much food,” she says, adding that the hostages have no clean clothes and no way to wash and dry their garments, “not even underwear.”

A still from footage showing the capture and abduction of Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy at the Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023. (The Hostages Families Forum)

She says that hostages released in November in a weeklong truce had said the female hostages “cried on the 50th day that they miss their mothers.”

“I don’t want to imagine what they’re going through now,” she adds.

A video taken by Hamas terrorists’ body cameras of the abduction of five female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base on October 7, including Albag, was released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum last month.

All five are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.