Female captives in Gaza suffered starvation, abuse, and were compelled to consume donkey feed, as disclosed by survivor’s mother, yet they remain unable to discuss the traumas faced on October 7th.

‘It was even more than giving birth,’ says mother-of-two Orly Gilboa. ‘It is impossible to put into words the sheer intensity of the emotion. We had waited so long for this moment, and now – finally – it had happened.’

For 467 days Mrs Gilboa had lived in a ceaseless nightmare after her 20-year-old daughter Daniella was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

The terrorists gleefully broadcast images of her bloodied face that day and filmed as she was forced to limp at gunpoint into a truck and taken to Gaza.

It was the only picture of the aspiring singer until, four months later, she was forced to put out a cruel hostage video, begging for her life in a tunnel.

Then, last November, when hope of a deal to return her and the remaining hostages was at its lowest, the news Mrs Gilboa had been dreading dropped.

A picture was shared by Hamas showing the body of a young woman under a funeral cloth – a ‘victim’ of IDF bombing, according to the caption.

While the face was covered, the image zoomed in on an unmistakable tattoo under her right elbow. It showed a small bar of music. There was no question – it was Daniella.

‘I think it was the first time ever that I took a pill,’ says Mrs Gilboa, reflecting on that day.

But, remarkably, even at this moment, she never abandoned hope. And the banker was supported by four women who knew more than anyone else what she was going through – the mothers of Naama Levy, Karina Ariev, Liri Albag and Agam Berger, Daniella’s fellow border observers who were kidnapped alongside her from Nahal Oz base on October 7.

Together, they prayed for a miracle and, in a story that could only come from the Holy Land, it was answered. When all hope appeared lost, a deal was signed last month.

Then, incredibly, Daniella walked out alive alongside Naama, Karina and Liri, before Agam was freed days later. The picture had been faked.

‘It was something beyond words,’ Mrs Gilboa says of the moment she hugged her daughter on the Gaza border. An enduring image shows the mother overcome by emotion, wrapping her entire body around her eldest child as they met.

‘I hugged her and then when I let go, I saw that her entire shirt was soaked in my tears – I don’t think I’ve ever cried like that in my life. It was overwhelming.’

Today four of the five mothers detail their daughters’ incredible survival for the first time and tell of the unbreakable bond they have formed.

In an interview with the Mail in Tel Aviv they reveal that the girls were starved, beaten, made to eat donkey food and forced to drink filthy water.

Mrs Gilboa also tells for the first time how that sickening image of her daughter’s ‘death’ was made as they call on the world to keep the pressure up to free the remaining 76 hostages.

For while being reunited with their daughters brought unfathomable elation, their happiness will not be complete until everyone is returned. Indeed, it is one of the first things their children said to them on being freed.

Liri’s mother, Shira Albag, 52, said: ‘The first thing she said was “I came back from hell, and we need to take everybody out immediately.” She said: “We girls were suffering, but the boys, the young men… it is worse.” ‘

The girls knew because Hamas used to brag of the beatings they had inflicted on the men – even showing them pictures of the torture.

‘They knew they were treated worse,’ said Naama’s mother Ayelet Levy-Shachar, 51. ‘These girls are very strong, and they were kept in conditions that we can only imagine.

‘But we know that the men are kept in worse conditions, and we are all very worried about them.’

That is some statement, given the condition in which their daughters were held.

Video taken from October 7 shows Daniella limping, having been shot in the leg. She was never treated and the bullet remained inside her when she was freed.

The five girls were tied up and driven into Gaza where some were beaten for weeks and others held alone. They were forcibly starved, and if they had not been fed up before their release last month their parents say they would have looked as emaciated as the men whose gaunt faces horrified the world last week.

None of the girls has yet talked in detail about the horrors of the day they were taken, and are guarded about much of their treatment – too awful to share even with their parents.

‘I don’t touch the topic of October 7,’ says Mrs Gilboa, who lives in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, with husband Ran, 53. ‘Anything related to what happened there is still very hard for her.’

‘Karina is now afraid of airplanes, of the noise, because she was exposed to so many bombings,’ says her mother, Ira Ariev, 45, who lives in Jerusalem with husband Albert. ‘The moment she hears something, she immediately covers her ears.’

But they have also heard remarkable stories of their daughters’ courage in captivity. Liri, in particular, managed to manipulate her captors – even insisting she was not taken into the tunnels.

‘The moment she was kidnapped, she understood she needed to behave like a Gazan,’ said Mrs Albag, who lives in Yarhiv with husband Eli, 54, and their four children.

‘She didn’t fight them. She cleverly, smartly, and in a way I still don’t know how to explain, managed to get small things that helped her and others there.

‘They were locked in a very dark room and knew there was a small light in the bathroom.

‘They could go twice a day, but she managed to sneak in at sunset to peek out and watch the sunset.

‘She received notebooks to write in and wrote all her thoughts in there. These are small things, but they helped.’

Dr Levy-Shachar, a GP from Ra’anana near Tel Aviv, said her daughter Naama was comforted by Daniella when they were held together.

‘Naama learned to sing Daniella’s songs,’ she said. ‘She said it always calmed her down, every time Daniella sang to her.’

The mothers have also been heartened that their daughters saw their own determined fight to return them when their guards watched television or listened to the radio.

‘This is what kept them there,’ Mrs Albag said. ‘The knowledge that no-one is giving up on them, that they are not forgotten.’

They were helped in this by the Daily Mail, who put the five girls at the top of the agenda by publishing the first images of them in captivity in January last year.

‘That was one of the unforgettable moments from all this period of time,’ Mrs Gilboa said. ‘When we published the pictures in the Daily Mail, I think it was a real game changer for everyone, all around the world and especially in Israel.

‘That was the moment when people understood that these girls were children who went through hell and had to be freed.

‘It started from that moment. Until that point, I don’t think people really understood what we were talking about – who the people behind the posters were.’

The girls have revealed that they witnessed death many times, and came close to being killed by airstrikes on several occasions.

Then, in November last year, the terrorists forced Daniella to play dead.

Mrs Gilboa said: ‘One of the terrorists came to her with a camera and told her: “Daniella, I must take a picture of you, like you are dead.”

‘She started to cry, begging him not to do it, but he told her: “No, it’s something they asked me to do and we’re doing it.” ‘

Held in squalid tunnels dozens of feet underground under the watch of armed extremists, Daniella had no choice. ‘She did what she had to do,’ her mother said.

The terrorists covered her in powder and debris to make it look authentic before sharing the image on Telegram.

‘That was the first time I took a pill,’ Mrs Gilboa said on seeing the picture. ‘You know, even on October 7 I was in control.’

She called on all of Israel to pray for her daughter and send her positive energy. The religious family had changed their daughter’s name from Danielle to Daniella when she was taken after a Rabbi said it would give her spiritual protection.

They clung onto this, and ‘just kept believing that it’s not true.’ Mrs Gilboa said: ‘All this period of time, from the beginning, I really don’t know how we coped with this situation.’

Incredibly, just when all hope appeared lost, a deal was signed last month and the five girls were at the top of the list to be freed.

Hamas announced that four of the five 19 and 20-year-old girls would be freed on the second weekend of releases, adding to fears that Daniella was dead and her body would be returned at the end of the first phase.

But Hamas announced that she was on the list that weekend and incredibly she walked out of Gaza alongside Naama, Karina and Liri. The four girls defiantly gave a thumbs up to a baying crowd of extremists. They have since told their parents of the decision.

Mrs Albag said: ‘Hamas wanted them to make a speech – they set up microphones on the floor for them.

‘But the girls said: “We won’t speak, we will leave as victors and we will show them they didn’t break us.” The act of raising their hands was to show them: “You didn’t break us. We won, despite being in captivity.”

Telling of the incredible moment they were reunited, Dr Levy-Shachar said: ‘I had imagined this moment a million times, but I was not ready for the strength of emotions.

‘It felt at once like total relief and joy – like giving birth again. I just wanted to hold her like a baby.’

All the mothers said their daughters have become more childlike since returning, constantly cuddling them and holding their hands.

Mrs Albag said: ‘No matter what she went through in there, no matter what she experienced, I got my Liri back.

‘I just wanted to hug her and kiss her and never let go of her hand – which is what’s been happening ever since. I constantly want to touch her, out of fear that she might suddenly disappear.’

Mrs Gilboa said: ‘I told myself that when the moment came I would simply collapse – and that’s exactly what happened.

‘My husband ran out and lifted her up, while I leaned against the door. All my strength left me at that moment – all the strength I had been holding onto throughout this time.

‘But then I hugged her. It was the happiest moment of my life – even more than the moment I became a mother when she was born.’

Mrs Ariev said she had not even allowed herself to imagine seeing Karina again. ‘I didn’t dream about it, I didn’t visualise it – and then when I saw her on the screen [coming out of Gaza] I felt like I was about to faint.

‘I felt an overwhelming weakness. But the moment we walked into her room, I suddenly felt strong.

‘She started crying and said: “Papa, mama…” and I told her: ‘”It’s ok, you’re home with us now, we were all waiting for you.”

‘There are no words to describe that moment – being able to hug her, to see her standing there – alive.’

While the elation of that day passes, the mothers know their recovery will be long – but at least it has finally begun.

‘In captivity, all they did was dream,’ says Mrs Albag. ‘Small dreams and big dreams. A dream of drinking coffee in the morning. A dream of showering whenever you want.

‘Also big dreams of travelling the world and studying. Liri has many dreams, but she’s currently working on the small dreams. Slowly fulfilling each of them.’

For each of the girls, however, their biggest dream is that each of the remaining hostages get out of hell. Only then, truly, can they begin to rebuild their lives.