An Israeli soldier rescued from the Gaza Strip welcomed releases of her fellow hostages, in her first public comments since she was freed, AFP reports.

Ori Megidish, 19, was operating an observation post on the heavily-militarised Gaza border when she was seized in the Hamas attacks of October 7.

Her rescue was confirmed by the Israeli military just over three weeks later, but no details have been released of her captivity or the operation to free her.

In a relaxed video filmed at her home and posted to her TikTok account, she said she was “fine” and “happy to see all the moving clips of hostages returning to their families”.

“I hope all the families who are still waiting for their hostages to return will be united and they will be able to celebrate as I did. I hope they will all return with God’s help.”