The sister of a teenager held hostage by Hamas has shared the final text message she sent to her worried family before being taken into Gaza during the attack on October 7th.
Minutes before her abduction, she managed to send a final text message to her older sister Sasha, encouraging her to stay strong.
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In an interview with The Daily Mail, Karina’s 24-year-old sister, who has temporarily put her neuroscience studies on hold to dedicate herself to the hostage situation, revealed that Karina is fully aware that this could potentially be the end.
Sasha shared a heartfelt moment when she saw the understanding in her sister’s eyes. A few minutes later, her sister sent her a message, asking Sasha to keep their parents safe and to stay strong even if she didn’t make it out alive. Sasha was deeply moved by this message and promised to honor her sister’s wishes by continuing to live without wallowing in sorrow.
“She didn’t instruct my parents to take care of me. Instead, she entrusted me with the responsibility of looking after our parents. This is the essence of who we are. We possess an inherent strength that binds us together and enables us to keep our family united.”
The families of Liri Albag, 19, Naama Levy, 19, Daniela Gilboa, 20, and Agam Berger, 19, who are still trapped inside the besieged enclave, have made the decision to release the footage.
Despite ongoing negotiations, there are still several Israelis being held hostage and facing continuous bombardment.
“We have recently come to the realization that it has been almost eight months since the incident, and it seems that people are beginning to forget about it. There is no deal in sight, and we are left uncertain about our future,” Sasha expressed.
Instead of simply talking about our experiences, we decided to let the evidence speak for itself through this video. Our intention was for people to witness and perhaps empathize with the immense pain we endure on a daily basis. We hoped they could grasp that these images haunt us even when we close our eyes, and the reality is even more distressing.
Karina was staying at an army base on the border of Gaza when she was taken hostage.
Despite the pain her family is experiencing, Sasha has traveled around the world and conducted more than 100 interviews to raise awareness of her sister’s situation.
“I made a promise to my sister that I would take care of them,” she stated.
“I admire her strength and resilience in the face of adversity. I cannot claim that it’s difficult for me when she is the one truly fighting. I allow my parents to express their emotions because that’s what parents do, while I remain steadfast in my belief that I am strong and nothing can shatter me.”
“I am putting forth every effort to bring Karina back alive as soon as possible. And only then will I allow myself to shed tears. But they will be tears of joy.”
