October 7 · Personal story
Agam Berger
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nahal Oz military base
Current outcome
Released alive · January 30, 2025
Agam Berger was released alive and returned to Israel after 482 days in captivity.
01
Before captivity
Agam Berger played violin from childhood and studied in a music program, her mother told Ynet. At sixteen, she made a board of words and newspaper clippings that expressed what mattered to her: faith, family, gratitude and freedom. After high school she spent a year in a pre-military program. She hoped to become a basic-training instructor; when assigned as an observer, she decided to do the work well and aim for command. During training, she was selected for a track intended for command and officer roles. For the end of her course, she prepared a lesson for her friends and gave them letters, urging them to do their work as well as they could because observers never knew what a shift would bring. She finished her course shortly before her assignment changed to Nahal Oz. On October 7 she was serving there, monitoring activity near the Gaza border.
02
October 7
On October 7, 2023, Berger was abducted from the Nahal Oz base while serving as an observer. In an interview with Ynet published in July 2024, her family shared the last conversation they had with her. Berger called from another soldier’s phone and told her mother that attackers were at the base and gunfire was coming toward them. Her mother asked whether she was afraid; Berger answered that she was not. The exchange ended as the assault continued, leaving the family without direct news.
03
Captivity
Berger spent 482 days in Gaza. In an Associated Press account of an interview she gave Israeli public radio after release, she said captors moved her between tunnels and apartments, where conditions depended on the place and guards. She described making small efforts to keep Jewish practice: during her first Hanukkah, held in a tunnel with four other captives, they asked for candles and received one. Later, a clock that helped her mark dates was taken away. She said limited access to radio and television sometimes let her hear news from Israel. In a February 2025 interview carried by Vesty-Ynet, she also recalled the strain of hearing public arguments over the terms of a deal and not knowing when she would go home.
04
Return
Berger was released alive on January 30, 2025, after 482 days in captivity. Ynet reported that she was transferred from Gaza to Israeli forces, met her parents at a reception point, and then traveled with them by helicopter to Beilinson Hospital. The same day, the family said they could begin a process of recovery, while stressing that it would not be complete as long as other hostages remained in Gaza. A report on the release also recorded the family’s promise to stay beside her.
05
After returning
On March 14, 2025, Ynet reported Berger’s public homecoming in Holon after her January 30 release. Hundreds of residents gathered with Israeli flags. Berger said she was excited and that her heart was pounding; she added that the gathering could not be a complete celebration while other hostages remained in Gaza. Her mother said she was proud to be in Holon with her daughter and spoke about the family’s continuing effort for the others.