On October 7, when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel by air, sea and land in what is considered the worst event suffered by the country since its creation 75 years ago, hundreds of Israelis learned that their relatives had been kidnapped because the militants themselves documented their crimes on videos and photos that were spread on social networks.
This is how Uri Rawitz, 59 years old and originally from Kibbutz Najal Oz, found out that his mother, Elma Abraham, was in the hands of Hamas. Rawitz identified her in an image in which the 84-year-old woman was seen on a motorcycle surrounded by armed men.
That day, just as Israel was commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, in which it had been surprised by the armies of Egypt and Syria, men from Hamas They massacred men, women and children in their homes. In addition, more than 200 people, most of them civilians, including babies and the elderly, were kidnapped and taken to the Strip, just like Uri’s mother.
Until now, There are at least 1,400 confirmed dead, approximately 3,000 injured, and entire families massacred or experiencing the anguish of not knowing the whereabouts of their relatives.
Uri, for example, remembers being woken up at 7:30 in the morning by alarms in Tel Aviv. “I understood that if this happened in Tel Aviv, obviously also in Najal Oz, which is located just a kilometer from Gaza. Then I saw that I had five unanswered calls from my mom since about 6:30 in the morning.“, account.
(Also read: The ‘majority’ of the hostages in Gaza ‘are alive’, says the Israeli army)
“I immediately called my mother, she told me that I was in the safe room, that they were instructed to stay locked up.” with key in the houses. “He told me that there was an infiltration and that there was a van and terrorists who were shooting,” he says.
He takes a deep breath, and then tells that his brother, who also lives in the kibbutz, was in his own house, without electricity, without a telephone and without being able to communicate with his mother. “When I was able to talk to my mother again, she told me that my brother went to a friend’s house, fortunately, since terrorists entered his house and it was destroyed.”
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The last time Uri spoke with his mother was at 10:20 in the morning that Saturday. “She told me she heard gunshots nearby and, in a relatively brief communication, said she had to hang up because someone was trying to call her. “This was, in fact, the last time we spoke.”
In addition to the fear and uncertainty about the outcome of the current conflict, Uri is especially worried about his mother’s situation, an elderly person with serious physical problems and various illnesses. In fact, she imagines that they would have had to drag her to take her away. “I’m clear that if she comes back, she won’t be like when I last saw her,” she says bitterly.
Like him, Itzik Horn is also waiting for news. This educator and community activist arrived from Argentina more than 20 years ago, residing in Sderot – one of the most frequent targets of Hamas rockets for more than two decades -, has two of his children in the hands of the Palestinian group.
“I am the father of Yair and Eitan, who have been missing since Black Saturday,” he told EL TIEMPO before learning, through confirmation from the Israeli army, that there is evidence that his two sons are in Gaza.
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Many people are missing from the kibbutz since the entry of these human beasts
Every now and then he has to interrupt the interview because crying chokes his throat and blurs his eyes. “Many people are missing from the kibbutz since the entry of these human beasts,” He says furiously as he seems to search for the words to describe what the militiamen did, although he feels that everything falls short.
And although she is now certain where her two children are, the news does not give her peace. “They are not prisoners of the Norwegian army nor are they prisoners of war protected by the Geneva Convention. They are in the hands of a horde of murderers, who did what they did. What peace of mind can I have…” he says.
He is clear, for now, that he will do whatever it takes to have his children released: “I, as a father, want my children to be released. I love my children, but first I have to know that they are in the hands of these people (…). If I have to go talk to the devil to free the boys, I’ll talk.”
On Friday, The Israeli army indicated in a statement that “the majority of the hostages” kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas “are alive.” “Of the approximately 200 hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip, more than 20 are minors, between 10 and 20 are over 60 years old, and most of them are alive,” the army said, while He stated that they continue to carry out the necessary operations to rescue the bodies that were taken to the Gaza Strip.
On Friday, furthermore, The spokesman for the Al Qasam Brigades – the armed wing of Hamas – announced the release of two American hostages for “humanitarian reasons”, after mediation by Qatar.
(You can read: War between Israel and Hamas: what is at stake in a new conflict that terrifies the world?)
They are Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, mother and daughter, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz and handed over at the Gaza border to the Israeli hostage and missing persons official.
To achieve the return of their citizens, even actors such as the United States and the European Union, which consider Hamas a “terrorist” organization, are pulling their strings behind the scenes. And heavyweights in the region, such as Qatar, also seek to intervene in dialogues that allow the release of the hostages.
🔴 THEY ARE ALREADY IN ISRAEL: First photo of Judith Tai Raanan and Natalie Shoshana Raanan, mother and daughter, released today after being kidnapped by the terrorist organization #Hamas last October 7th.
PM Netanyahu: “Two of our kidnapped people are already home. We are still in… pic.twitter.com/BR1VwQ5BTa
— Israel in Spanish (@IsraelinSpanish) October 20, 2023
And while the countries of the region look for how to return the kidnapped people to Israeli territory, The authorities of the Hebrew country are working to identify bodies of the 1,400 victims of the attack.
“In my 28 years of professional work, I have never seen atrocities like these,” Dr. Ricardo Najman, an expert doctor at the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine, tells EL TIEMPO.
(Keep reading: The stories of the Colombians who experienced the Hamas attack on Israeli territory)
“Words are not enough to describe the state of the bodies, the horrors committed by the terrorists. I can’t even call them animals, because animals kill to eat,” he says.
In several cases, forensic medicine experts and Najman’s colleagues noted, There was not even DNA left on the victims’ bodies to be able to compare them with living relatives. who show up looking for their loved ones.
Those in charge of the difficult mission of removing bodies from the collective communities (kibbutzim) into which Hamas militiamen entered also report the horror. These are the volunteers of the ZAKA organization, determined to guarantee that the victims have a dignified burial.
Avi Kuvalsky is one of them. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep,” he told this newspaper after having been one of the first to enter two of the worst scenes of the massacres, the Beeri kibbutz and the Kfar Aza kibbutz.
“I saw unthinkable things. I don’t have the exact words to describe it. You cannot understand that a person is capable of doing things like that. People tied together and burned alive, babies decapitated…I have no words.”
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People tied together and burned alive, babies decapitated… I have no words.
Every few sentences, take a deep breath. “I can’t stop thinking about my seven children,” she says, revealing that More than one of his team said he couldn’t, that he was leaving, that he couldn’t stand so much horror. “I stayed because I feel that it is a mission that must be accomplished. It is sacred,” she summarizes.
And while he struggles to recover from the attack, The Israeli population is preparing for a war against Hamas that may be prolonged. They fear, but they trust that their Government will not forget them.
JANA BERIS
FOR THE TIME
JERUSALEM
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