By Itamar Eichner

Copyright ynetnews

In an emotional address at a UN-organized event on Friday, Naama Levy, who served in the IDF as a lookout and survived captivity in Gaza, urged the world to save the 48 remaining hostages. “You have all seen that horrifying video of me from that darkest day,” Levy said, recalling October 7, 2023, when she was kidnapped. “I was violently dragged from a black Jeep, wounded, terrified, bleeding and helpless, paraded in front of a hateful, raging mob, with the terrifying sounds of gunfire and cheering all around me.” “That was only the first day in hell,” she continued. “The first of 477 long, agonizing days. My time being held hostage will remain carved into my body and soul for the rest of my life.” Levy described the nearly 16 months she spent in captivity: “Days turned into months, and months into more than a year. I endured periods without food or water, suffered severe malnutrition, unimaginable hunger and untreated injuries. I was kept in unbearable sanitary conditions with the constant fear that each moment could be my last. Those were 477 days where each minute felt like eternity.” She said she was transferred between safe houses, sometimes left in total isolation, other times held with young women, some badly wounded and untreated. One of the most terrifying moments, she recalled, came when she was forced to run from house to house under fire. “Bullets whistled past my ears as my captors reloaded their weapons. I ran as fast as I could. I was weak, struggling to breathe, terrified for my life,” she said. Levy also described the terror of Hamas tunnels. “There’s nothing that can compare to the darkness and dread that the tunnels bring with them. The same tunnels where far too many innocent people are still being held at this very moment,” she said. “Imagine being forced into a dark, deep tunnel underground, where the air is empty of oxygen. It feels impossible to take a deep breath, the stench of mold fills your lungs, and you are left on a damp mattress. That was my reality, again and again.” Eight months after her release, Levy said she cannot bear the thought of others still enduring what she did. “As I stand here before you, there are hostages for whom this nightmare has not ended. Some of them I saw with my own eyes. Their faces never leave me. Their voices are silenced. That is why I am here — to be their voice,” she said. “There are sons, fathers, brothers, and one daughter who must be saved. Families are waiting for them, fighting to end their suffering, just as you would fight if this unthinkable horror happened to someone you love.” She called on the international community to act urgently. “Diplomacy and negotiation freed me. That same diplomacy must bring the others home — the living to rebuild their lives, and the dead to be buried with dignity,” Levy said. “Please act. Find a solution now. Save these innocent lives, because in saving them, it is as if you saved the entire world. Bring them all home — now.”