Nineteen-year-old Liri Albag rushes into the arms of her parents, causing screams of joy.
“My beautiful. You’re a hero. You’re home. That’s it,” her mother says as the three of them laugh and cry together.
The moment, which was filmed by the Israeli army, was the first time the family had seen each other in more than 15 months.
Liri was among the first Israelis to be taken hostage in a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, when a military base on the Gaza border where she was serving was attacked.
She was among the four female soldiers to be returned to Israel on Saturday as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. In return, two hundred Palestinian prisoners were released.
“A sense of relief and happiness comes over us after 477 long and excruciatingly nerve-wracking days of waiting,” her family said in a statement shortly after her return.
Crowds gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square on Saturday morning, watching live news from Gaza on a big screen as they waited for the group to return to Israel.
Soldiers Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, all aged 20, were released along with Liri.
Cheers erupted as the women appeared, alongside masked gunmen from Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades, for a staged handover in Gaza’s Palestine Square. They held hands and waved before being driven away in Red Cross vehicles.
“It’s amazing. They’re amazing. Have you seen them standing there smiling?” said one woman watching the live broadcast with an audience in Tel Aviv.
In the crowd watching in Gaza, one man told the BBC that Hamas was returning the hostages in an “honourable way” and declared the moment a victory for the group.
The women were then transferred to the Israeli army and later brought to the hospital by helicopter.
In a press briefing, the director of Beilinson Hospital, dr. Lena Koren Feldman, described the freed hostages as being in “stable condition” but said their “comprehensive medical and emotional evaluation” would continue.
They were the second group of hostages to be freed ceasefire agreementwith the goal of permanently ending the war, which began a week ago after months of negotiations.
Four women were taken hostage on October 7 from the Nahal Oz military base, about a kilometer from the Gaza border fence.
They were a part an unarmed all-female observer unitknown as tatzpitaniyot in Hebrew, whose role was to study live surveillance footage captured by cameras along the high-tech fence and look for signs of anything suspicious.
Several conscripts from the unit and families of those killed said they had warned of the attack for months before October 7.
It was clear there was a “bubble about to burst”, one told the BBC.
The Israeli military previously said it was in the midst of a “thorough investigation into the events of October 7, including those in Nahal Oz, and the circumstances leading up to it.”
One woman from the unit, Agam Berger, remains in Gaza. In a statement on Saturday, her family said they were “overjoyed and touched” by the return of the other four, while still “eagerly awaiting the embrace of Agam, God willing, in the coming week”.
Another woman who served in the unit with them but was not on duty on October 7 told the BBC: “I was very emotional…It’s like sisters coming home.”
“God willing, we will all sit together and talk, but of course without pressure. They have to get well first.”
For the families of the bystanders who were killed on October 7, it was a bittersweet moment.
“This is a very emotional day for us,” said Elad Levy, whose niece Roni served with the four women but was killed in the attacks.
“We are very happy to see Karina, Daniella, Liri and Naama returning home to their families. At the same time, we remember that there are still hostages in Gaza. And as for us, we remember Roni who will never return home.”
Israel had expected civilian hostage Arbel Yehud to be included in Saturday’s release and accused Hamas of violating the terms of the truce to favor female civilians. Hamas said Ms. Yehud would be released next weekend.
Another civilian woman yet to be freed is Shiri Bibas, who was taken hostage with her husband and two young children, Ariel and Kfira.
