CHICAGO (WLS) — A mother and daughter from north suburban Evanston are missing and are feared to be among dozens of people kidnapped in Israel and taken hostage to Gaza, family members tell ABC7.
The White House announced Monday afternoon that there were now 11 confirmed American deaths and additional Americans in captivity.
Those missing and possibly held include Judith Tai Raanan and Natali Raanan of Evanston, who were visiting relatives in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas militants on Saturday.
READ MORE: Israel attacks and seals off Gaza after an attack by Hamas, which promises to execute hostages
Adi Leviatan, Judith Raanan’s brother, said he suspected the couple had been taken hostage after not hearing from them since the weekend. Mother and daughter arrived in Israel on September 2, Leviatan said.
Illinois state records show Leviatan was once a licensed esthetician in Evanston, but that license is no longer active.
Uri Raanan, Judith’s ex-husband and Natali’s father, said his daughter had just graduated from Deerfield High School and was about to turn 18.
Holding back tears on the phone, Uri told the I-Team that Judith and Natali left Chicago on September 1 to travel to Israel to celebrate the Sukkot and Simchat Torah holidays abroad.
Last weekend, Uri said, Judith and Natali traveled to Natali’s grandmother’s house in Nahal Oz, the kibbutz that was attacked by Gaza militants on Saturday morning.
Uri said in the last text message he received from his daughter on the morning of the Israeli invasion, Natali said they were “hiding in a bunker or safe room from the bombing” and that she had very poor cell phone reception.
That was the last he heard from his daughter. He said a neighbor of the grandmother saw Palestinians escorting both Judith and Natali out of the house.
In retaliation for a bloody incursion by Hamas militants, Israel stepped up airstrikes on the Gaza Strip on Monday, cutting it off from food, fuel and other supplies. The number of war deaths rose to almost 1,600 on both sides. Hamas also escalated, promising to kill captured Israelis if attacks targeted civilians without warning.
On the third day of the war, Israel was still finding bodies from Hamas’ stunning weekend attack on southern Israeli cities. Rescue workers found 100 bodies in the tiny farming community of Beeri – about 10% of the population – after a long hostage situation involving gunmen. In Gaza, tens of thousands fled their homes as relentless airstrikes leveled buildings.
The Israeli military said it had largely gained control in the south after the attack caught its vaunted military and intelligence apparatus by surprise and sparked heavy fighting on its streets for the first time in decades. Hamas and other militants in Gaza say they are holding more than 130 soldiers and civilians kidnapped from inside Israel.
The ABC7 I-Team spoke with Elton Dixon, a Chicagoan and retired doctor who moved to Israel three years ago.
“I can hear the Iron Dome working around me,” he said. “There were no sirens near me. But I hear the Iron Dome firing missiles and coming in. I have friends who live in Jerusalem and they were bombed like a few hours ago.”
The U.S. has already begun delivering desperately needed ammunition and military equipment to Israel, and the Pentagon is reviewing stockpiles to see what else can be sent quickly to bolster its ally in the three-day-old war with Hamas, a senior Defense Department official said Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.