Desperate families of Israeli children abducted by Hamas – including a baby and a four-year-old taken away with their crying mother – have broken down on live television as they made heartbreaking calls for them to be rescued.
At a press conference with other families whose relatives were kidnapped in the Hamas raid on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, one relative couldn’t hold back her tears as she said she had seen a video of her cousin being killed was kidnapped by terrorists.
At least 203 people are said to have been taken hostage after Hamas’ surprise attack more than a week ago.
The woman who introduced herself at the press conference as Efrat is related to Shiri Bibas Silverman.
The video of Shiri holding her two red-haired sons Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir in a blanket as they were taken away from their home went viral after the terrorists’ bloody invasion.
The woman who introduced herself at the press conference as Efrat is related to Shiri Bibas Silverman
The video of Shiri Bibas Silverman keeping her two red-haired sons Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir covered in a blanket as they were taken away from their home went viral after the terrorists’ bloody invasion
The press conference was aimed at families whose relatives were kidnapped in the Hamas raid on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th
Efrat said the family was “surrounded by terrorists” and “covered in blood, not their own.”
“That’s the only sign of life we have of them,” she said.
She said tomorrow would be the 14th day since her abduction before she realized that one of the children, Kfir, will have turned 10 months old since his abduction.
She said: “He was born on January 18th. I don’t want to be sitting here in a press conference in two months to celebrate his first birthday.”
“On Monday we received a photo of Yarden, her father, being driven into the Gaza Strip on a motorcycle.
“He’s badly injured in the head.” We don’t know anything – we don’t have any photos of my aunt and uncle. All we have received is confirmation that they are not among the dead and are probably there.
“My aunt has severe Parkinson’s disease. She is without her medication. I don’t know if the baby has formula. He doesn’t eat well yet to survive.’
“This is torture,” she said.
She added: “They are innocent civilians, innocent children.” In harsh conditions. You are neither a pawn nor a game in a war. They need to be released and released now.
‘That’s crazy. This is a nightmare.’
In the video, Efrat appears unable to continue, putting her head in her hands.
Nine-year-old Ohad Munder was due to celebrate his birthday this weekend before he went missing following the Hamas invasion on October 7.
“Unfortunately, he cannot celebrate his birthday,” Merav Raviv said at the press conference today, adding that his mother had already sent out the invitations.
She paid tribute to the missing boy, who she described as “talented” and “athletic”.
A father recounted the abduction of his two sisters, aged 34 and 45, his twin daughters Emma and Yuli Aloni, aged three, and his niece Amelia Aloni, aged five.
He said: “The idea that they are freedom fighters.” That is not freedom. They are fighters, they are terrorists and they are taking children, mothers, unarmed men and they are doing God knows what to them at the moment.
“You have to get out of there now.” Don’t negotiate anything. You just have to release them. Otherwise they are lower than animals.”
Nine-year-old Ohad Munder was due to celebrate his birthday this weekend before he went missing following the Hamas invasion. “Unfortunately he won’t be able to celebrate his birthday,” Merav Raviv (pictured) said today, adding that his mother had already sent out the invitations
A father recounted the abduction of his two sisters, aged 34 and 45, his twin daughters Emma and Yuli Aloni, aged three, and his niece Amelia Aloni, aged five
Children kidnapped by Hamas
Shiri and her young boys were apparently forced into armored vehicles by Hamas militants after their village was stormed
Social media footage of Shiri sobbing as she and her children are taken away by the militants has sparked fear
The whereabouts of three-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir are unknown after Hamas terrorists kidnapped their family
Doron Asher Katz, 34, was visiting her mother in Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, with her two daughters, ages two and four, when Hamas attacked
A chilling video shows the moment Shiri and her two young sons are dragged screaming from their home near the Gaza border by Hamas terrorists before disappearing.
Shiri, 30, was hiding in a safe room with her husband Yarden and their children Kfir and Ariel when the terrorists invaded Israel on October 7.
Armed with only a small pistol, Yarden hoped to defend his family and their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz when villages were raided – an attack that left hundreds of Israelis dead and dozens taken hostage.
The father reportedly texted his relatives “I love you all” as they sought shelter as terrorists fired semi-automatic weapons outside their window.
Half an hour later he texted menacingly, “They’re coming in,” before communications stopped.
The family has not been heard from since, and Shiri’s parents, Yosi and Margit Silberman, who are in their late 60s, are also missing and fear they will be kidnapped.
A video later emerged showing the distraught mother clutching her two children as they are kidnapped, with no sign of their father, as horrified onlookers scream: “She’s having a baby.”
Social media footage of Shiri sobbing as she and her children were abducted by the terrorists sparked fear and terror in the Jewish community worldwide.
The mother’s horrified expression and images of her innocent sons in happier times have been used by protesters around the world to illustrate the terror Hamas is inflicting on Israel.
Distraught Israelis at a vigil outside Downing Street in London held up pictures of the mother and her boys being kidnapped, with a poster saying: “Let the children go.”
Devastated relatives spoke of their horror at seeing the footage, with Shiri’s cousin Yosi telling Sky News that his family member’s disappearance had made him “a desire to fight”.
“When I first saw the pictures I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I couldn’t understand what I was seeing, then I look at another picture and it was very clear that it was my cousin Shiri and the two little children.”
“My fear is that they have separated them, they have separated them, they have killed them, that they are injured, that we will not see them again, that we will not even get any information from them and that we in this matter will remain empty forever.’
Nothing has been heard from the grandparents Margit and Yosi or the parents Yarden and Shiri since October 7th
Weeping Israelis held a vigil outside Downing Street, holding up pictures of Kfir and Ariel
Shiri’s niece, Yifat Zailer, who spoke to The New York Times, said she would not rest until her relatives returned home.
“I just hope that they’re alive and that they’re together. And I want them to be home with me so I can give them a big hug again,” she said.
“We feel like those in charge don’t know what to do because this is a situation we’ve never been in before.” “That’s the feeling in Israel,” she added. “It is a disaster.”
More families were captured during the attack on Nir Oz.
Father-of-two Yoni Asher said he received a call from his panicked wife telling him terrorists had stormed into the house.
Doron Asher Katz, 34, was visiting her mother in the settlement with her two daughters, ages two and four, when Hamas attacked.
After losing contact with her, Yoni saw a video on social media of her being loaded into a cart by militants.
“I certainly identified my wife, my two daughters and my mother-in-law on some sort of cart, with Hamas terrorists all around them,” he said.
He was able to locate his wife’s cell phone and saw that it was in Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.
He said, “My two little girls, they’re just babies, they’re not even five and three years old yet.”
“I don’t know in what way they’re trapped. ‘I don’t know what happened to them.’
Yoni appealed directly to Hamas not to harm his family and even offered to trade for their safe return.
The remains of a family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz after a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip
The remains of a single-family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz after the terrorist attack
The devastation caused by the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz
Israeli air strikes on Gaza continue and Israel’s defense minister has ordered troops to prepare for a ground attack on the Palestinian territory, although he has not said when it will begin.
More than a million Palestinians, about half of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes in the north and Gaza City after Israel ordered them to evacuate.
Airstrikes continued early Thursday across the territory, including in areas in the south that Israel had declared “safe zones.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that limited humanitarian aid from Egypt would be allowed into the Gaza Strip at the request of US President Joe Biden.
The war, which began on October 7 after Hamas terrorists stormed Israel and Israel vowed to destroy them, has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday that 3,785 Palestinians were killed and nearly 12,500 others were injured.
More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel, most of them in the first attack.