“Sitting there in a Gaza tunnel, captured on camera, pleading to return home"—with these words, Agam Goldstein-Almog, a survivor of Hamas captivity, opened her poignant post shared on Sunday, nearly a year after her release.
Goldstein-Almog, abducted at age 17 by invading Hamas terrorists from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, has revealed for the first time her emotional response to seeing the photograph taken by her captors during her 51-day ordeal, while expressing deep concern for those who remain in captivity in Gaza.
In her social media statement, Goldstein-Almog reflected on her time in captivity. “I had no idea I would be freed in three weeks. I wasn’t even sure I would survive,” she wrote. “These eyes that watched the clock each day, waiting endlessly, without knowing what for.”
Goldstein-Almog, her mother, Chen, and brothers Gal and Tal were freed as part of the hostages-for-terrorists exchange deal in November 2023. Gazan terrorists murdered her father, Nadav, and sister Yam at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023.
Addressing those still in captivity, Goldstein-Almog wrote: “I still see you in my eyes, and then I see people who haven’t made you their top priority.”
She concluded with a powerful appeal: “Nearly 400 days now, and how much suffering we could have spared their eyes from seeing. How much more we burden them with each moment of delay and hesitation.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
