Released hostage Liri Albag: 'My nightmare is over' thanks to the IDF

(JNS) — Israel Defense Forces soldier Liri Albag, who was released on Saturday after 477 days in captivity in Gaza, took to social media on Friday for the first time since being freed.

“The people of Israel, I want to thank you again for all your support, love and help,” Albag wrote in her first Instagram post since Hamas terrorists took her hostage on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Together, we are a force,” the IDF field observer wrote. “I want to thank the soldiers of the IDF and the security services, who risked their lives and fought for us and for our country! Not a morning passes that I don’t pray for their welfare.”

Addressing the families of slain troops and murdered civilians, Albag said she felt their pain. “Thanks to the heroes who fell during battle, my nightmare is over. I was finally reunited with my family!”

However, “our struggle is not over, and I will not stop fighting until everyone is home,” the former hostage added in the Instagram post.

Albag urged the Jewish people to remain united and strong, saying that “the unity and hope that we have scares all our enemies, amaze all those who love us and comforts the people in our midst.

“A sentence that used to accompany me was, ‘At the end of every night, the darkness disappears.’ And I hope everyone will be able to see the light,” her social media post concluded.

Albag, 19, was released by Hamas last Saturday alongside fellow IDF border lookouts Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, and Naama Levy, 20.

Albag’s family has emphasized that while she and the other female IDF hostages experienced “insane things that are hard to tell everything about” during their 15 months in Hamas captivity, they are afraid to speak due to the fact that dozens of hostages have yet to be freed.

“Dad, there are two million terrorists there, make no mistake. I sat with children aged 8 and 4 who were cursing ‘the Jews,’” Albag has been cited as having told her father since being released as part of the truce deal.