Seeing the terrified faces of the four blood-stained teenage girls being paraded by Hamas gunmen was more than their parents' worst nightmare.
The terrifying images were taken just hours after they were kidnapped and Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniela Gilboa and Agam Berger looked like shadows of their former selves.
Three months have passed since they were captured lined up against a wall in Gaza with their hands tied behind their backs – and they are still in captivity.
With negotiations at a standstill following the failed ceasefire, the parents of the youngest female hostages today shared the heartbreaking photos as they demanded their immediate release.
They are calling on mothers and fathers around the world to speak out as horrific new details emerge that some female prisoners have been raped at gunpoint or had limbs amputated.
“Imagine if it was your daughter, with your little girl in their hands,” said Daniela's mother Orly, 38. “What would you imagine?”
Smiles of horror: the battered and bloody image of Karina Ariev, 19, in a Hamas video
Plan: Lili Albag, 18, wanted to travel the world before she was kidnapped on October 7
Liri's father Eli, 54, said: 'Just think for a day when you are disconnected from your daughter and you know they are in the hands of bad people. Then tell me what you would say after 90 days. This is killing us. Every minute seems like an hour.'
The girls were snatched from Nahal Oz, near the Gaza border, in the first hours of the Hamas attack on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and raped dozens of women.
The first sign of life came when Hamas shared a short clip of those stationed in Gaza, along with other videos showing them being bundled into trucks at gunpoint.
“We understood exactly what they did on Oct. 7,” said Ms. Gilboa, whose daughter Daniela, 19, is a talented musician who dreamed of becoming a singer.
“If they are able to do that, what do they do for 90 days? I don't want to imagine what's going on.' When the last ceasefire was broken on November 30, Liri, 18, from Yahiv, central Israel, Karina, 19, from Jerusalem, Daniela, from Petah Tikva, central Israel, and Agam, 19, from Holon, central Israel, remained Israel, behind. .
As tensions rise after Israel assassinated a Hamas leader in Lebanon, there are fears they will be forgotten.
The parents help each other to deal with it. 'We cry together a lot. We talk a lot, we understand each other,” said mother of four Shira Albag, 51, an account executive whose youngest daughter Liri planned to travel the world.
But horror stories have emerged from those who have been released. Shlomi Berger's eldest daughter, Agam, is a gifted violinist with a promising future. “We heard about the sexual abuse,” the father of four, 52, said.
'As a father I can't imagine these things. The family is torn apart.'
Karina's only sibling, Sasha, 24, spoke on behalf of their mother, Ira, 44, a medical secretary. “It's misery, it's helpless,” she said. “My mother is in a terrible situation, she doesn't know what to do.”
There was a sighting by Chen Goldstein-Almog, 49, who saw some girls in an apartment in Gaza during her 51 days as a hostage.
Gifted: Agam Berger, 19, is shown bloodied in a video released by Hamas
Dreams: Daniela Gilboa, 19, hopes to become a singer
“Some of them are close in age to my daughters and I hugged them so hard,” she said. But the social worker shared harrowing details from other female prisoners.
“There were girls who spent 50 days or more alone,” she said. “When they were sad, their captors would cry and touch them. They regularly described stories of sexual abuse at gunpoint.
'Some girls were seriously injured and did not receive proper medical care. Gunshot wounds, even lost limbs. They said they could handle the disability, but not the way they were constantly violated.”
Of the four girls, Ms. Goldstein-Almog said, “They are strong and have not lost hope. But they were on the brink five weeks ago when we divorced them. They must be released. They can't stay there another day.'