Released Hostage: ‘We Recited the Thanksgiving Prayer in Synagogue – I’ve Been Waiting for This Day’

Former hostage Daniela Gilboa following release from Hamas captivity (YouTube Screenshot) (YouTube Screenshot)

IDF lookout Daniela Gilboa recalls praying to God as Hamas terrorists stormed her base. ‘I knew that the only thing that could save us was faith.’

By Ben Rappaport, United with Israel

Daniela Gilboa, one of the IDF lookouts released from Hamas captivity last week, shared a post on Instagram on Sunday in which she thanked the people of Israel and emphasized that her faith in G-d is what sustained her during her harrowing experience on October 7 and throughout her captivity.

“What a crazy year I have had, and I don’t know where to begin. I think I will first say thank you to everyone. To the people who for a year and three months supported my family, who did not leave and did not despair or lose hope for a moment. Thank you for waiting for me, thank you for not believing the terrible rumors, thank you for continuing to pray for me during this entire period.”

She recalled how, hiding in a shelter as Hamas terrorists stormed the Nahal Oz army base on October 7, she had prayed to God.

“This was my last request before I was kidnapped. I did not want to despair and say goodbye, so instead I prayed and believed with all my heart that my end was not there, in that shelter,” she said.

“I prayed for all the girls I was with for half an hour because I felt that I could not do anything better than that at the time. I couldn’t rely on the security that the army might give me and that it might come to protect me, I couldn’t rely on the security that the shelter might give me because it wasn’t just about missiles. I couldn’t at that moment rely on the few girls who were armed. I knew that the only thing that could save us was faith.”

She also shared that on Shabbat morning at synagogue, together with fellow IDF lookouts and released hostages Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, and Agam Berger, she recited the traditional “Hagomel” blessing, thanking God for surviving a life-threatening ordeal.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since the day I survived October 7,” she said. “To thank God, who, against all odds, saved us from the worst thing ever.”