Eli Albag, the father of Liri, an observer held captive by Hamas, was interviewed this morning (Wednesday) on the "Kalman-Liberman" program on Kan Reshet Bet. He shared that they received indications that the female observers kidnapped from the Nachal Oz post are still alive, based on information about their condition from two months ago. However, their physical and mental states remain uncertain.
Albag spoke about the overwhelming emotions he felt after seeing the photos of the five female observers: "Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life. It's the first time I’ve broken down, and I think to myself, if I’m collapsing, what must my daughter and the other hostages be going through without any communication or proper conditions?"
He added that the photo was taken from a video filmed by Hamas operatives about two weeks into the war, which was not released by the organization. According to him, the IDF banned the release of the video "for intelligence and other reasons."
When asked about the content of the video, he replied: "It contains very disturbing things. The terrorists give orders on what to do, how to do it, ‘lie down, sit, make a V,’ and there are conversations with each of the girls. We were not allowed to publish the video, but when we are given permission, we want to release part of it, not all, because there are some very distressing things in it. Even the exposure of the photo is hard for us. The video keeps playing in my mind, and that’s what caused me to break down."
At the end of the interview, Albag expressed his anger that attempts to broker a deal had failed, blaming members of the cabinet. "At the end of May, the deal was ready for signing. A member of the extended cabinet, who knew the details, leaked them, sabotaging the deal when it was exposed to the media. We demanded and still demand from the Prime Minister that, as this is a criminal offense, a polygraph test be conducted on the cabinet members. Whoever did this should not be allowed to serve in the Israeli government."
* Kann 11 News contributed to this article.