Mother of Naama Levy, from harrowing Gaza video: ‘Each minute is an eternity in hell’
Ayelet Levy Shachar urges release of 19-year-old daughter, expresses fear over treatment of 17 women held captive by terrorists amid growing evidence of rapes on Oct. 7
The mother of a 19-year-old women held hostage in Gaza published a heartfelt plea Friday for her daughter’s release and warned time was running out.
Naama Levy was seen in a video from Gaza on October 7 following her kidnapping with her hands tied and bloodied sweatpants, giving rise to widespread speculation that she had been sexually abused by her abductors.
“You have seen the video of my daughter Naama Levy,” Ayelet Levy Shachar wrote on the Free Press website. “Everyone has. You have seen her dragged by her long brown hair from the back of a Jeep at gunpoint, somewhere in Gaza, her gray sweatpants covered in blood.
“You may have perhaps noticed that her ankles are cut, that she’s barefoot and limping. She is seriously injured. She is frightened. And I, her mother, am helpless in these moments of horror.”
Levy Shahar underlined fears that Hamas terrorists are continuing to abuse her and other women in captivity, as mounting evidence points to multiple instances in which terrorists on October 7 raped and sexually assaulted women before executing them.
“There are seventeen young women still in captivity. They range in age from 18 to 26. I think of what they, and my Naama, could be subjected to at every moment of the day. Each minute is an eternity in hell,” she wrote.
“On Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that one of the reasons Hamas doesn’t want to release the young female hostages is they don’t want these women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody. Everyone knows exactly what he means,” Levy Shahar continued.
“What would you do if your daughter was being held hostage by violent rapists and murderers for two months? Perhaps the better question is: What wouldn’t you do?” she asked.
Levy was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on Saturday morning, October 7.