Liri Albag, who was held for 477 days in Gaza, plans to complete her military service, after she was abducted from Nahal Oz on October 7.
By David Brummer, World Israel News
Former Hamas hostage Liri Albag is set to return to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to complete her military service, according to her father, Eli Albag, who spoke to Hebrew media on Wednesday.
Albag, who was taken from the Nahal Oz outpost where she served as a surveillance soldier, spent 477 days in captivity before being released in February as part of a temporary ceasefire and hostage deal.
Her family, still emotionally tethered to the conflict’s timeline, marks 600 days since the war’s outbreak.
Speaking to Ynet, Eli Albag shared that Liri made the decision “two or three weeks ago,” expressing a deep personal drive to rejoin the army.
“She wants to experience the army again, to feel connected to it. In some way, she also wants to settle accounts with those who held her,” he said.
Her return is part of her healing process, her father explained: “They took her freedom in the lowest place on earth, and now she wants to reclaim her life—to take the world back.”
He added that Liri is aiming to serve in “a very special place” and is already in touch with military officials to facilitate her return.
“We continue counting the days,” he said. “Liri was reborn, but there are still 58 hostages. We won’t stop fighting for them.”
Liri Albag was in the news earlier this week after it was revealed she was detained by American immigration officials and questioned for an hour upon landing at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City on Sunday.
She was traveling to New York with her family for a vacation when officials flagged her after landing.
Albag’s identity was called into question, as she was listed as a hostage by the American authorities and her release had not yet been registered within internal US immigration databases.
“It appeared in their system that she was still captive; they hadn’t updated their computers,” Eli, told Hebrew-language media.
“They were afraid someone [else] was entering the US using her name.”
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