Four female Israeli soldiers who were paraded on Gaza stage before being released had to cook for captors

The four female Israeli soldiers, who were released by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, have narrated their ordeal in captivity, stating how they had to cook for their captors and babysit their children during their days in Gaza.

Daniela Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, who returned to Israel on Saturday after 477 days in Gaza, claimed they were held in civilian apartments and tunnels. The sanitary conditions were so poor that they did not shower for long periods. 

All four were held together and had to babysit the children of their captors. They also learned to speak Arabic during the period, Tel Aviv-based Ynet News quoted the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

They had an adult with them during the first days of captivity to take care of their food and showering. The person mediated between them and the terrorists. They were disguised as Palestinian women and moved from place to place within Gaza City and often stayed in tunnels. Sometimes there was no food and during IDF bombings, they "held each other".

Liri Abag was the one who took care of the group and spoke to the Hamas personnel. They also met some "very senior Hamas officials" during these times. 

The hostages said they were however exposed to media outlets, which were mainly Al-Jazeera and Hamas men also informed them about the fighting happening nearby. 

Before being released to the Red Cross, the women were paraded through a Gaza City square on Saturday. The footage released by Hamas showed them walking calmly with their captors to the stage. The IDF soldiers were seen smiling and waving to the large crowd that Hamas had assembled in the square.

The women were brought to the square in separate vehicles by dozens of armed and masked Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad gunmen. The female soldiers were dressed in olive garb meant to look like IDF uniforms. Like other hostages, they too were given "gift bags" by Hamas. The women were marched onto the stage festooned with English and Arabic slogans such as "Palestine: The victory of the oppressed people vs the Nazi Zionism." A large sign in Hebrew also read, “Zionism will not win.”

A drone could be seen distributing candy to members of the crowd.

However, the soldiers later told Israeli media that the antics didn't move them. "We showed them on stage, it didn't move us. We are stronger than that," the hostages said.