Daniella Giboa, who was freed from Hamas captivity over a week ago, published a statement on Sunday crediting emunah for her salvation and saying that she and her fellow hostages recited HaGomel.

“What a delusory year I’ve been through, and I don’t know where to begin,” she wrote. “I think  that first of all, I’ll say thank you to everyone.”

“To the people who supported my family for over a year and three months, who didn’t leave them 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 daven for me throughout this entire time. That was my last request before I was abducted. I didn’t want to despair and say goodbye, so instead I davened and believed with all my heart that my end wouldn’t be there, in that bomb shelter.”

She continued by saying that in the moments before she was abducted, she davened: “I davened for all the girls with me for half an hour because I felt that I couldn’t do anything better than that at that moment. I couldn’t count on the security that perhaps the army would give me and maybe come to protect me; I couldn’t count on to the security that perhaps the bomb shelter would provide because it wasn’t only missiles; I also couldn’t count on the few girls who were armed.”

“I knew that the only thing that could save us was emunah.”

“Yesterday, we – Karina, Naama, Liri, and Agam, recited HaGomel in shul. I waited for this moment since the day I survived October 7. To thank Hashem that against all odds, He saved us from the worst of all.”

Daniella’s father, Ron, went to shul the morning after Daniella’s release to thank Hashem, reciting Nishmas in front of the open Aron Kodesh.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)