The images brought a momentary lightness to the tragedy. When Mia Leimberg, a 17-year-old Israeli, was released on Tuesday, she appeared before the cameras carrying in her arms the one who must have been a great help during her captivity: her little dog Bella.
According to the Israeli daily Israel Hayom, Moshe Leimberg, Mia’s father, searched for the animal for a long time after the attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, returning to the Gaza Strip with around 240 hostages and his daughter.
Gabriela and Mia Leimberg call their family upon their arrival in Israel on November 28th. Portal/Government Press Office/Handout
Before, he hoped that Mia and Bella would be taken together and that the teenager would find real emotional comfort.
The newspaper said that the young girl, accompanied by her mother, was visiting her aunt with the small white dog that looked like a teddy bear in the kibbutz of Nir Yitzhak when they were taken hostage. The three women were released on Tuesday.
The dog on the front page of the newspapers
The animal’s fate was only revealed when it was seen in Mia’s arms on Tuesday evening, surrounded by two hooded fighters, members of two Palestinian Islamist movements, Hamas on one side and Islamic Jihad on the other, as it was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The photo appeared on the front page of Israel’s three largest daily newspapers on Wednesday.
Bella reportedly stayed with Mia during her seven-week detention in Gaza.
According to Israeli authorities, the October 7 attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. In return, Israel promised to eliminate Hamas by launching massive bombings and a ground attack that killed more than 15,000 people, again mostly civilians, according to Hamas’ health ministry.