‘I just want to hug those girls’

Bittersweet joy and relief as freed soldiers return home

Bethan McKernan

Nineteen-year-old Naama Levy became an indelible symbol of Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. In footage from that day, an armed man dragged the barefoot and bleeding soldier out of the back of a Jeep on to a street in Gaza. Her arms were tied behind her back and blood pooled in the seat of her pyjamas. Onlookers cheered at her distress. For months, the women of Levy’s all-female surveillance unit – tatzpitaniyot – had noticed unusual practice raids and drills taking place on the other side of the fence, but their reports and warnings were ignored by commanders. Fifteen women from the unit were killed when Hamas fighters stormed their base on the Gaza border, and seven taken hostage. Now, not just Levy’s abduction, but her redemption, will…

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Guardian Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 31 January 2025

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