Great-aunt recounts 51 days to free child hostage in new book 'Saving Abigail'

Liz Naftali, the great-aunt of a former hostage taken during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israeli communities, has written a book about her family's effort to free the child, a 3-year-old known as Abigail.

Naftali's book, Saving Abigail, recounts the family's search for the child after attackers killed many residents of their community and abducted dozens. "We thought she had been killed. But when I learned that she had survived, I looked at this picture and I said, I'm gonna bring you home," Naftali said on the West Palm Beach program This Is Your West Palm Beach.

Naftali described Abigail as among nearly 20 residents of the kibbutz Kfar Aza who were abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, when attackers also killed many other residents of the community. According to Naftali's account, Abigail spent 51 days in captivity and was released along with 16 others. After the family's release, Abigail lived with cousins and her older brother and sister.

Naftali said she printed hundreds of copies of a photograph of the child and distributed them during meetings, including visits to Capitol Hill, as part of efforts to raise awareness and help bring her home. Naftali said she and other hostage families continue to press for the release of people still held in Gaza and that she is hopeful they will return home soon.

Naftali's book frames the family's personal experience as part of a broader campaign by relatives and advocates. The account includes the role of a neighbor identified only as Hagar, who Naftali said cared for Abigail after the child's parents were killed. The program did not provide additional details about ongoing advocacy efforts or the identities of other released hostages beyond what is described above.