Who are the mysterious hostages braiding hair for released captives?

When the videos of Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher were released in Gazan media on Sunday, during their release, it was difficult to not realize that they all had one thing in common: braids in their hair.

During an interview to Kan News later on Sunday, Chen Goldstein-Almog, who was released more than a year ago with her three children, hinted towards the fact that they all had braids.

“Maybe there is some hostage, back in Gaza, that is trying to send out a message to the world, by braiding released hostages’ hair?” She wouldn’t name the hostage that may be braiding their hair, afraid it may harm her, but it turns out that this information has already been published in the past year and a few months.

A few days after their release, during December 2023, Kan News correspondent Carmela Menashe published an article about these braids.

“One of the hostages released as part of the agreement with Hamas was photographed on the night of her release with neatly braided hair,” the report disclosed. It was mentioned to be a 17-year-old hostage, who told an IDF officer after her release that “female soldiers held with her in captivity braided her hair on the day of the release.”

She added, “They took care of us.”

Later, in an interview with the Hidabroot Channel, the secret was partially revealed: Merav Berger, the mother of Agam Berger, a female soldier who is still in Hamas captivity, was recorded saying, that her daughter Agam, “braided the hair of the other women before their release.”

The journalist added, “I thought to myself, who was braiding those braids?” Merav answered, “it was Agam, who was braiding the hair of the girls she knows are being released while she stays behind.”

In August, Chen’s daughter, Agam Goldstein-Almog, spoke at an event in honor of Bergers birthday. The young Goldstein-Almog told Berger about a conversation with her father, immediately after being released: “Nine months ago I called your father on the way to the helicopter in Hazerim.

I wished him Happy Birthday, just like you asked me to. I still had the braids you made me when I called him. Your parents didn’t believe me. And I couldn’t believe how much they didn’t know anything.”

She added: “Today is your birthday and today must be very hard for you.”

But it may not only be Berger who was creating these braids, but also other female soldiers who were held in captivity.

Nearly two weeks after the first round of hostage releases ended, the testimonies from those freed have shed light on the conditions of captivity and provided signs of life for some families of those still held in Gaza.

In an article for N12, Yoni Levy, the father of Naama, another soldier in captivity, said he “learned from released hostages that they had seen his daughter and were with her before their release.”

Yoni, the father of 19-year-old Naama Levi, shared that some of the freed hostages told him they had met his daughter in captivity. They called him after their release and said that she was injured but alive.

“The first feeling is like you can finally breathe. You take a moment to feel relief,” Yoni recalled. His daughter’s abduction was captured in a video that has become a symbol of the brutality of the events. “But that relief lasted only a few hours, and then the testimonies started coming in.”

Naama, a young woman of then 19 year old Naama, is supposed to be released in the upcoming hostage releases as part of the ceasefire with Hamas. “There are many young girls with her—teenagers—and we all understand their vulnerability, the potential harm they might face,” Yoni explained.

For Naama’s family, there was another glimmer of hope. When some of the children returned from captivity, their hair was braided in a style familiar to Naama’s parents. “Maybe it’s just stories we tell ourselves,” Yoni admitted. “Naama participated in many triathlons during her youth, and this is exactly the style of braids she and her teammates used to wear,” he told N12 in 2023.

Naama and Agam are just two of five IDF observers who are expected to be released in the upcoming hostage deal: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy.

Abducted from the Nahal Oz base on October 7, the welfare of the female soldiers has been a major concern for the hostages’ families and much of Israeli society.

A video made public of the young women in May caused outrage as the terrorists referred to the women as “sabaya.” Depending on intonation and pronunciation, the term can be understood to mean either a young woman or a sex slave.