Ori Megidish, soldier who was rescued from Hamas captivity, is released from army service

Ori Megidish, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and later rescued from captivity in the Gaza Strip by the Israel Defense Forces, is released from her mandatory military service.

Megidish returned to active military service in February 2024 out of personal desire to contribute.

In a post on social media, Megidish says her service came with “challenges that I didn’t think I could contend with, but also moments of pride and happiness.”

“Thank you to the girls whom I got to know and a life I will not forget, to those who are still with us and those who aren’t. I am getting released with the knowledge that Noa Marciano, Hadar Cohen, and Maya Villalobo Polo, may their memories be a blessing, were supposed to be beside me, and they won’t be. Sorry to my friends,” she writes, mentioning soldiers who were murdered or kidnapped and then murdered in captivity.

Megidish was abducted from the Nahal Oz post by Hamas terrorists on October 7 when the group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.

In total, 66 soldiers were killed in Hamas’s assault on the base, and a number were taken hostage.

While Megidish was kidnapped along with other soldiers from the base, she was believed to have been held alone and was rescued by the IDF in an overnight mission on October 30. The IDF did not release further details on the rescue.

אורי מגידיש, התצפיתנית שחולצה מהשבי, השתחררה מצה"ל: "חוויתי אתגרים שלא חשבתי שאצליח להתמודד איתם, אך גם רגעים של גאווה ושמחה. נועה מרציאנו, הדר כהן ומיה ויאלובו פולו ז"ל היו אמורות לעמוד לידי, והן כבר לא יהיו. נמשיך לקוות ולפעול למען שלום וביטחון לכולנו"@roysharon11 pic.twitter.com/AtPEb1YKv7

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) April 10, 2025