I just wanted to share with you this message that Noa shared with everyone gathered at Hostage Square tonight. It was so very emotional to see her like this, back home and free. We still pray for her partner Avinatan to return home one day. Thanks to Bring Them Home Now for the video. 💛
True crime
The Nahal Oz Five
During the Hamas attack on October 7 2023, twenty-two young female soldiers hid inside the bomb shelter of the Nahal Oz army base. Fifteen of them were killed when Hamas entered the shelter. Seven were taken hostage. One of those seven, Noa Marciano (19), was murdered in captivity. Another, Ori Megidish (18) was found and rescued from the tunnels by the IDF early on in the war.
The other five are Naama Levy (19), Liri Albag (18), Agam Berger (19), Karina Ariev (19) and Daniela Gilboa (20). These young girls, almost all of them teenagers, were dragged out of the shelter, thrown into trucks, wounded, bleeding and terrified, and taken to Gaza. Like cattle. Worse, like slaves. Like loot, like war trophies.
.
.
.
Footage of their abduction has now been made public by the families of these girls, in a desperate attempt to sway the government and the international community, to pressure Hamas more, to put more effort into an agreement that brings the hostages back.
This footage is absolutely heart-shattering and horrific. It shows the girls sitting, dazed and bloodied, in the shelter, with the dead bodies of their friends all around them. You can hear gunshots and shouting, and terrorists talking about the girls and to them. What they are saying is bone-chilling.
The video has been edited to remove the most graphic content, but it is still terrible to watch. This is the video. It is on YouTube, but it has been banned from Facebook for being too graphic. Facebook winces and looks the other way, while the blatant threats and vicious hatred spewed towards Israel and Jews from the Pro-Palestine faction go unchecked.
.
.
Among the screaming, the shooting and the choas, one of the men says to Daniela: “You are so beautiful.” Someone else says: “They are worthless, they are Zionists.” At the very end when the girls are being pushed into the truck, you can hear someone saying: “These are the girls that can get pregnant.”
It is blatantly obvious what they are planning to do with these girls. Sexual violence is a given. But forced pregnancy? That terrifying thought had not even entered my head until now. But now, I can see the girls clearly, in my mind. Being held in the quarters of these men. Being subjected to assault, violence and sadism. In the eyes of these monsters, these girls are worthless and subhuman. They are objects to be violated and abused. And to be used for breeding.
I feel sickened to my core. These girls, our girls, are not playthings for depraved men. They are not worthless trash, only fit to be used and discarded. They are beautiful and unique human beings. They are precious souls, sparks of the divine. They are daughters, sisters, friends and fellow women. They are everything to their parents and family. They are everything to us.
.
.
Naama Levy
Naama Levy is 19 years old. I wrote a post about her before. The shocking footage of her being roughly dragged by her hair and shoved into a car, hurt and bleeding, her hands tied behind her back, was released shortly after October 7.
This is from the website Bring Naama Levy Home:
“Naama Levy was born in Israel, and raised in India where she was educated in an American school. She graduated with a diplomacy major in high school. She was raised on values of tolerance, acceptance, equality, freedom, social justice…
As a young girl, Naama participated in the “Hands of Peace” delegation, which brings together young Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians and nurtures young leaders to promote values of mutual understanding and the pursuit of peace as a lever for creating social-global change.”
“Always looking to find common ground between people, Naama chose to practice a sport that she loves very much and that, in itself, embodies the convergence of various sports – Triathlon. The strong connection to sports runs in her family – her mother is the doctor of the Israeli women’s soccer team, so Naama has lived and breathed soccer since childhood.
She is also the connecting force at home. The second child out of four, Naama is a role model to her two younger siblings and is adored by her older brother.”.
Naama had just arrived at the Nahal Oz base when she was violently abducted. She has been a hostage ever since.
.
—
Liri Albag
.
.
Israel Hayom writes the following about Liri:
“Liri Albag celebrated her 19th birthday in captivity. Her sisters Roni (25) and Shay (22) say birthdays have always been among her favorite occasions. She is a joyful girl who always pays attention to every little detail: “She always gets the whole house going a month in advance for a big event with all her friends. She always makes sure everything is beautifully decorated and also has the food she loves prepared for the event.” Her sisters still hope to celebrate her 20th birthday together with her in Thailand.
Liri is an optimistic and strong girl. People who returned from the first prisoner exchange deal and met Liri in captivity told her family about the conditions she is held in. They noted: “She told us she loves us, that she’s okay and misses us. We understood it was important for her that we know she’s alive. She knows our family and knows we won’t stop fighting for her. She asked us not to forget her and the other captives, to not stop fighting.” “
According to other sources, Liri is being held in civilian houses and frequently moved. She is made to cook and clean and look after children. In other words: She is a slave.
.
.
Agam Berger
.
.
From Israel Hayom:
“Agam Berger, aged 19, is the twin sister of Li-Yam, born two minutes before her. She’s a gifted violinist, playing since she was 8. She had only been in the position for one day when she was kidnapped from Nahal Oz base.Her mother Mirav said in March, “Agam was supposed to be stationed at the Kerem Shalom crossing. At the last minute, they changed her posting to Nahal Oz. On Thursday, she went to the base. I sent her a video of us wishing her well. The very next day, just one day into being a field observer at Nahal Oz, she was brutally kidnapped.”
Agam sent messages to her parents from captivity through the released hostage Agam Goldshtein, who was with her for a time. Goldshtein told the parents that their daughter observes Shabbat even in captivity. She described how Hamas terrorists ordered Agam to cook food, but she firmly refused to desecrate Shabbat. She even asked to wish her father a happy birthday, awaiting her return to him. Two months ago, the family celebrated a bar mitzvah for Agam’s younger brother, Ilay. He then told Israel Hayom: “It’s very hard for me to celebrate without my older sister Agam. Even in the worst scenarios, I never imagined this important day would look like this. It’s very difficult for me, I’m very sad. We miss her, it’s just not the same without her.” “
.
.
Daniela Gilboa
.
.
From Israel Hayom:
Daniella Gilboa was also kidnapped from Nahal Oz, and her family and partner of seven years, Roey Dadon, await her return home. Recently, while Daniella was held captive by Hamas, he proposed to her. Orly, her mother, later said: “Daniella and Roey have been together as a couple since 7th grade, both studying music at school. Just a week after that dreadful Saturday, they were supposed to celebrate their 7-year anniversary as boyfriend and girlfriend. She was really looking forward to celebrating that weekend. A few weeks ago, we had a Torah scroll welcomed into our home, and the rabbi who led the ceremony understood that Roey had been her boyfriend for 7 years. He asked him if he had proposed yet and suggested Roey propose – and he did. Now he’s waiting for her to return.”
Daniella graduated with excellence from high school, majoring in music, and even recorded some songs awaiting release when she returns. Since her abduction, Orly has been fighting to bring her daughter home, wavering between great hope and despair. She admits not expecting to need so much strength for this long struggle: “In the first few days after the kidnapping, I told myself there’s no way an event of this magnitude would go on for more than a few days, and I didn’t think we’d reach months in captivity. I ask the decision-makers – think of your own daughters, as if they were there now, and make your decision accordingly. Do what needs to be done to return the captives because they don’t have much time left.” “
.
.
Karina Ariev
.
.
From Israel Hayom:
“Karina Ariev, from Jerusalem, called her sister Sasha on the morning of Oct. 7 and said she was entering the shelter with her friends. “Slowly, as the minutes passed, she said there were terrorists in the area, and then you could really hear their voices and the shooting – as we’re talking on the phone. Then she started saying goodbye to me, telling me she loves me, that I should go on living, take care of our parents, and that’s where the conversation ended.”
The family describes her as an innocent and gentle child who always looks out for her family and parents. “For her, family and friends come first.” Her sister also said: “The longer we see the fighting drag on, the more we worry. Karina is creative and talented, loves to paint, sing, and dance, and wants to pursue a career in the beauty industry. She loves helping people and dreams of studying psychology and sociology. She has the ability to truly listen to people, she’s a shoulder to lean on.” “
On January 26, both Karina Ariev and Daniela Gilboa were shown in a hostage video by Hamas, together with another hostage, Doron Steinbrecher. What they said was not remarkable, it followed the same script as all the other hostage videos, the message being: Stop the war, or we will die. But, as with the other hostages, the look in their eyes was haunting. Doron’s scream echoed in our heads for a long, long time. What are these women going through, off-camera?
.
—
When is this slow and agonizing mental torture going to end? When will we be able to mourn and bury our dead, embrace and heal our survivors, and look to the future? We are stuck in the past. One never-ending day in October. We cannot heal and move on, as long as our precious daughters, sons, fathers, grandfathers and friends are still held hostage. We have been waiting and holding our breath for seven months. When will we be able to breathe out?Liri, Naama, Agam, Daniela and Karina. We love you. We will bring you home.
.
This is my YouTube video about the Nahal Oz Five:
🎗️🎗️🎗️🎗️ #bringthemhome
Update 26/04/2024: Hersh Goldberg-Polin
On Wednesday April 24, 2024, more than 200 days after October 7, 2023, Hamas released a video of one of the hostages: 23-year old American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
It was the first sign of life from Hersh since the horrific video of October 7, when we had to watch him climb into the back of a pickup truck, covered in blood and missing his left hand.
The video released last Wednesday shows Hersh looking pale, thin and frightened. He blames the Israeli government for not securing a deal with Hamas, for letting many of the hostages die and for making them suffer. He tells Netanyahu to go home and hand over the keys of the government. He shows his amputated left hand, which was blown off by a hand grenade on October 7.
It is hard to put to words what I felt when I saw this video. I cannot imagine how his parents, Rachel and John Goldberg-Polin, are feeling. Relief, because he is alive. Pain, because he is very clearly suffering. Hope, because he might come home. And fear, because he might not.
.
.
Rachel, who has been fighting tirelessly for the release of her son and the other hostages, told the Israeli media:
“We were extremely overwhelmed. We were both crying. And just seeing him, I think I kept saying, poor boy, poor boy, poor boy.”
This is the video released by Hamas. The only full screening I could find was on the Times of India YouTube channel:
.
.
It is important to realize that Hersh is not saying his own thoughts, he is reading off a rehearsed script that Hamas had given him. It is easy to see in his eyes that he is terrified.
The reason there is no hostage deal is because Hamas refuses to accept any offer. They have turned down four offers up until now, the last time was on April 14. It is not because of Netanyahu that there is no hostage deal.
The main problem is that Hamas demands an immediate, permanent end to the war. The Israeli government is not willing to leave Gaza without conquering the last remaining Hamas stronghold: Rafah. This is where the hostages are thought to be held.
Hamas also demands the release of all Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli prisons. Many of these are dangerous criminals and terrorists.
I don’t know what the right thing to do is. On the one hand, we all desperately want to see the hostages return home to their families. But to give up on eradicating Hamas? This sounds terrifying. They will just resume their reign of terror in Gaza. The Gazan people are traumatized and hate Israel a thousand times more than before. The entire world hates Israel a thousand times more than before. They will attack again one day, and again, and again. We must make sure a massacre like October 7 can NEVER happen again.
So, I don’t have the answers. I don’t make the decisions. I wait and hope, as I did before. And I pray that Hersh and the others will make it home.
#bring_hersh_home
.
Ilay Garfinkel
Lately, I took some time off from writing to concentrate on my mother, who was very ill. She passed away on February 25. It was very sad, but peaceful. She was almost 80 years old. I spent a month in Holland to look after her, say goodbye, and help my brother arrange the cremation, spread the ashes and vacate the house.
I returned to Israel an orphan. But nothing could prepare me for the news I got just a week later. News that would pitch me headfirst back into the war, into the world of pain and terror and true crime.
The oldest son of our friend and neighbour, Shirley Garfinkel, was killed in a terror attack in the West Bank on March 22. His name was Ilay Garfinkel and he was 21 years old.
Ilay was a soldier and he was fighting in Gaza for several months. It was a relief when he was finally pulled out and stationed in the West Bank. I remember thinking, thank god, that’s one less young person I have to worry about.
How wrong we were.
.
.
Ilay was killed in a sniper attack. A terrorist started shooting at a minibus carrying soldiers near the Jewish settlement Dolev. The battle against the sniper lasted for five hours, until he was finally located and eliminated. Ilay was killed in this operation. Seven other soldiers were injured.
So on Sunday, I went to Ilay’s funeral. I cannot put into words just how agonizing this funeral was. The screams and cries of Ilay’s mother are still ringing in my ears. I have three young sons myself, and the idea of losing one of them is beyond terrifying. For a few moments during that funeral, I experienced the agony of Ilay’s mother. It was like staring into an abyss and knowing you are going over the edge.
I haven’t spoken to Shirley yet, but we heard her speak in an interview on the radio. She sounded so strong and full of hope. But I have heard her cry, and I know how much she suffers inside. And with her Ilay’s father, his siblings, his girlfriend and his many friends.
.
This is Shirley with her five children. She and her ex-husband are divorced and her new partner is my neighbour. Shirley is a yoga teacher and a very special, beautiful person. She became a good friend of my sister-in-law and she is loved by many in our kibbutz.
I didn’t know Ilay personally, but after seeing the crowds at his funeral and hearing the outpouring of grief from so many, I know he must have been just as friendly and social and beautiful as his mother. On Ynet, Shirley said: “He was the best mentor for life. I was a young mother and he taught me everything. His presence everywhere was magnetic. Kind and humble, a handsome boy, I would look at him and not believe he was mine.”
His friends told the newssite: “Ilay was a significant part of the group, a handsome boy, a wise and talented man with a great and good soul, the salt of the earth.”
.
.
This shining star of a boy has been ripped away from his loved ones much, much too early. How will they go on? Their lives will be forever changed. Losing a child is the single most painful thing possible.
The ripple effect of a death like this, a violent murder, is immense. His entire community has been affected, schools, friends, a football club. And all the friends and acquaintances of his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend. His mother’s partner and their family. My sister-in-law, who lives in Berlin. And so many others that I don’t even know about. This is the effect that one murder has.
Rest in peace, Ilay. I hope you’re in an amazing place now. And that one day, your mother will meet you again.
The abduction of Hersh Goldberg-Polin
Hersh Goldberg-Polin is a happy, energetic, sociable young man of 23 years old. He enjoyed life and had many plans for the future. He was supposed to leave on a two-year trip travelling the world on December 27, 2023. But in the first weekend of October, he decided to go to a music festival in the desert with his friends. That decision would turn his life in a completely different, terrifying direction.
Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg are both from Chicago. They moved to Israel in 2008 with their three young children: Hersh, the oldest, and his two sisters, Libi and Orly. They settled in Jerusalem. Hersh was a gentle and sensitive boy, who loved reading (mostly in English), football and travelling. At first, he struggled with the new language and the unfamiliar surroundings, but after about a year, he found his place in Israel. He made friends, joined a soccer team and learned to read in Hebrew.
.
.
When Hersh grew up, he discovered dance parties and travel. He often went to raves with friends and visited parties in different European countries. He loved travelling and seeing new places. Like so many young people, he wanted to see the world and go on adventures. He worked as a waiter and a medic to save money for his ticket to India, on December 27.
On Friday, October 6, Hersh spent the evening with his family and they had dinner and welcomed the Shabbath together. Afterwards, he went out with his friend, Aner Shapira. He told his parents he was going to do “something fun”, but they didn’t know what yet. Jonathan and Rachel said goodbye to their son and went to bed. Early the next morning, they were woken up by sirens and rocket fire. They went to their safe room and waited, confused and worried about what was happening. Then Rachel got two messages from her son: “I love you guys” and “I’m sorry”.
.
.
Hersh and Aner had gone to the Supernova music festival the night before. They had danced through the night and enjoyed themselves. But at 6:30 in the morning, the party turned into a nightmare. Terrorists on paragliders landed in the middle of the crowd and started shooting. Others drove in with cars and motorcycles. People screamed, gunshots rang out and the battlecry “Allahu akhbar!!” was heard, over and over again, repeated with every shot.
Hersh and Aner ran for their lives and managed to reach a bomb shelter. They hid inside with 27 other people, crammed into the small space.
.
But Hamas found them. The terrorists threw a number of handgrenades into the crowded bomb shelter. Aner Shapira, Hersh’s friend, caught the grenades one by one and threw them out again. The eighth one exploded in his hand and killed him instantly. Another few grenades were thrown in, exploded and killed eighteen people in that shelter. Seven people survived, hidden under the bodies, and later told the story.
A video posted by Hamas later showed us exactly what happened. Four young men in the shelter were alive but exposed. The terrorists came in and ordered them to leave the shelter at gunpoint, and to climb into a truck. Their cameras show Hersh getting up, dazed but calm, covered in blood. His left arm is missing, blown off at the elbow.
He manages to climb into the truck with the others. Another video shows the truck with the hostages arriving in Gaza, and it shows that Hersh had a tourniquet around his left arm.
Since then, nothing was heard from or about Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Released hostages say they haven’t seen him. He is assumed to be a hostage, but it is possible that he didn’t survive his injury.
Aner Shapiro, 22 years old, was dead. He was honoured as a hero by those who survived the massacre inside that bomb shelter. They said he had immediately told everyone: “I’m a fighter in the Nahal brigade, I will protect you.” He stood in the doorway of the shelter and caught the grenades as the terrorists threw them. Until one of them exploded in his hands. He showed incredible bravery in the face of terror and evil, to protect others. The seven who survived, owe him their lives.
.
.
Jonathan and Rachel Goldberg-Polin were beside themselves with worry and fear for their son, and they immediately jumped into action. Rachel has become the face of mothers trying to save their children from captivity in Gaza. She has given up her job as a teacher to work fulltime for the release of the hostages. She and Jonathan set up an office to help the families of hostages, staffed with a press agent, a social media expert and many volunteers. They travelled to the USA and spoke to the crowd at a march in Washington DC. Rachel spoke twice at the UN headquarters in Geneva. She met with presidents and prime ministers and even travelled to the Vatican to meet the Pope.
.
.
Rachel hardly sleeps anymore. She wakes up at 4 AM from a drug-induced sleep, and starts working on social media, publicity and prayers. Every day, she writes the number of days that her son has been missing on a piece of tape and sticks it on her shirt, over her heart. She refuses to eat more than a little each day, because from the stories of released hostages, she knows that her son gets very little food.
Since October 7, Rachel runs on anxiety and adrenaline. She fights and prays, breaks down and cries, then picks herself up again and continues fighting, speaking out and doing every single thing she can think of to help her son. She and Jonathan have heard nothing, no news at all about Hersh. They don’t know if he got medical treatment for his injuries. They don’t know if he is being mistreated by terrorists and spends his days in the tunnels or if he is being held in a civilian home. They don’t even know if he is alive or dead.
Rachel’s speech at the rally in Washington DC was one of the most powerful things I have ever seen. The pure energy coming from this small, frail woman is awe-inspiring. I can only show you, so you can see for yourself:
.
.
Her cry of “Why??” goes straight through my heart. Why, indeed? Why did this horror have to happen? What good has this done for anyone, Palestinian or Israeli or anyone else?
I have deep respect and admiration for Rachel. What she does is incredible. She is truly a lioness. I also feel desperately sad for her. The pain she and her family are going through is unimaginable.
All I can do is hope and pray that Hersh is alive, that he is ok and that he will come home. Soon. And all this terrible torture can end. As I write this, Israel’s army is standing by the gates of Rafah. The world is pressuring us to give up the fight and not enter Rafah. But how can we? How can we leave Hersh, and all the others, to their fate in Gaza?
We know from Avera Mengistu and many others, that Hamas does not release hostages and prefers to kill themselves and all their people before they give us back what we want: our loved ones.
.
.
#bringthemhome
#bring_hersh_home
Naama Levy – the face of abused Israeli women
On October 7, the videos made by Hamas terrorists themselves were shown across the world. The above stills were taken from one of these videos. It shows Naama Levy, a 19 year old Israeli girl, being violently abducted by several armed men. Her hands are bound behind her back, her feet are bare and she is bleeding from wounds on her face, arms, hands and ankles. Her sweatpants are dirty and bloodied. Especially in the crotch area.
Hundreds of women were brutally killed on October 7. Many of the bodies showed signs of sexual abuse and gender-related mutilation. Eyewitnesses from the Supernova festival described horrific scenes of gang rape and torture. Women’s bodies were found with broken legs and pelvises, breasts cut off, mutilated genitals. I could go on and on, but the scenes are so cruel and shocking that I can’t bring myself to repeat the stories I read. Released hostages have told stories of sexual assault by Hamas members. And abducted women were filmed with obvious signs of abuse. Like Naama Levy.
.
The website Bring Naama Levy Home tells us who Naama is:
“Naama Levy was born in Israel, and raised in India where she was educated in an American school. She graduated with a diplomacy major in high school. She was raised on values of tolerance, acceptance, equality, freedom, social justice…
As a young girl, Naama participated in the “Hands of Peace” delegation, which brings together young Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians and nurtures young leaders to promote values of mutual understanding and the pursuit of peace as a lever for creating social-global change.”
.
“Naama has always been attentive to others. She has always stood by the different and the less fortunate. She volunteered in a kindergarten for children of foreign workers (asylum seekers) and is a graduate of a youth movement that brings children together from different sectors of Israeli society.”
Always looking to find common ground between people, Naama chose to practice a sport that she loves very much and that, in itself, embodies the convergence of various sports – Triathlon. The strong connection to sports runs in her family – her mother is the doctor of the Israeli women’s soccer team, so Naama has lived and breathed soccer since childhood.
She is also the connecting force at home. The second child out of four, Naama is a role model to her two younger siblings and is adored by her older brother.”
.
.
In the early morning of October 7, Naama was sleeping in her bed at the army base of Nahal Oz. She had arrived at the army base just two days ago. When the rockets start falling and the sirens start ringing, she jumps out of bed and runs barefoot to the shelter. She texts to her mum: “We’re in the safe room. I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
Shortly after that, her phone goes silent. A few hours later, the video surfaces, which shows Naama in the trunk of a black jeep. An armed terrorist drags her out of the trunk and shoves her into the back seat of the car. She looks terrified, disheveled and bloodied.
Since then, Naama has been a hostage. Naama’s parents have been very vocal on her behalf and have demonstrated, given interviews and travelled to the USA to campaign for the release of the hostages. Naama’s mother, Ayelet Levy Shachar, wrote in an article in the Free Press:
“It has been deeply disturbing to see the United Nations and feminist organizations refuse to acknowledge that Hamas raped and committed appalling sexual crimes against women, simply because the victims are Jewish. It took two months for some to finally admit the scale and the brutality of the horror.”
“The same monsters who committed those crimes are holding my daughter hostage.There are seventeen young women still in captivity. They range in age from 18 to 26. I think of what they, and my Naama, could be subjected to at every moment of the day. Each minute is an eternity in hell.”
“What would you do if your daughter were being held hostage by violent rapists and murderers for two months? Perhaps the better question is: What wouldn’t you do?“
.
.
Naama’s father, Yoni Levy, said in the New York Post:
“We talked about Michelle Obama often. She [Naama] believed her to be someone who not only cared about global women but also someone with a really good heart.”
“What I want to know: Why has she, and all these other famous women Naama looked up to, and all of the global human rights organizations she believed in, stayed silent about what has happened to my Naama and all the other girls who are still held hostage?”
“It is like they have disappeared. Their silence shouts loudly. Naama believed in the power of women helping each other. She believed in the power of women. I am disappointed for her.”
.
.
I am disappointed, too. I am furious and heartbroken by the deafening silence of so many people who claim to care about human rights, about women’s rights, about violated girls in war zones.
Protests have been staged all over the world against the silence of the UN, the MeToo movement and all other women’s rights organizations. Protests that show how violated and pushed aside we feel, and the reality of what happened to the girls and women of Israel.
.
.
What woman has not felt the threat of a man’s superior strength? What woman doesn’t know what it’s like to be touched against her will, to be followed and harrassed, maybe even to be assaulted? I think pretty much all of us have experienced gender-related threats at some point in our lives. So how can you all look the other way, shrug this off, just because the abused women in question are Israelis and you don’t like Israel?
Open your eyes. See what really happened. And stand up against it. Hamas is a dangerous death cult, that treats women as property, that throws homosexuals off rooftops and kills anyone who dares to oppose them. How can anyone stand with that kind of evil? It is beyond me.
Sheryl Sandberg, a well-known American author and public figure, is working on a documentary about gender-related violence by Hamas, called Screams Before Silence. In this documentary, she speaks to eyewitnesses, released hostages and first responders to gather evidence for sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists. The documentary is coming out in April 2024.
I will have to gather all of my willpower to make myself watch it. I know it will be horrific, terrifying and nightmare-inducing. But I will watch it. For Naama, for Noa, for Shani, and for all the other women and girls who were raped, abducted or brutally murdered and paraded through the streets of Gaza.
We are with you, Naama. We love you, we are waiting for you, and we will do anything to bring you back home and to keep you safe forever. 🧡
.
The freeing of Luis Har and Fernando Marman
This is a very, very happy update for a change. We have had only bad news for so long. This was so very uplifting for all of us, but of course mostly for these two hostages and their families: Luis Har and Fernando Marman.
Luis Har (70) and Fernando Marman (60) were taken hostage on October 7 from kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Luis’ partner Clara Marman, who is also Fernando’s sister, was taken hostage too, along with her sister Gabriella Leimberg and and Gabriella’s daughter Mia (17).
Luis Har is 70 years old and lives in kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. He is a father of four and a grandfather of ten. His family immigrated to Israel from Argentina in 1971. He worked as an accountant all his life and loves music and theater.
Fernando Marman immigrated from Argentina with his two sisters, Clara and Gabriella. He lives in Kfar Saba and works in a furniture store. He enjoys fixing and building things and often helped his family and friends as a handyman. He is not married and has no children, but is very much loved by his sisters and their children.
Clara Marman is Fernando’s sister and Luis’ partner. She lives with Luis in Nir Yitzhak. She has three daughters and worked as a kindergarten teacher for 30 years.
Gabriella Leimberg is married and has one child: seventeen year old Mia. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and daughter and works with autistic adults.
Mia Leimberg is still at school. Her friends describe her as fun, energetic and caring. She is a very good singer and loves her little Shi-Tzu dog, Bella.
The family had gathered in Nir Yitzhak, where Luis and Clara lived, to celebrate Sukkot. While the attack was happening, they hid in their safe room and tried to barricade the door. They were terrified and convinced they were all going to be murdered. Luis texted his children to let them know what was going on. His last text was at 11:04 and said: “They’re in the house. We hear the noises. Let’s pray it’s over. Kisses.”
The terrorists found them, but they were not killed. They were taken hostage instead and held captive in Gaza for months.
In late November, a ceasefire was negotiated, in which a number of children and women were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Clara, Gabriella and Mia were all released in this ceasefire. Incredibly, it turned out that Mia had held on to her little dog Bella the entire time. She says that she hid Bella from their captors and fed her scraps, and that the dog was a huge comfort and emotional support for her. Mia’s family in Israel knew how much Mia loved the dog and had tried to find her, but they couldn’t. They assumed Bella had run away in terror, got lost and was maybe adopted by another family.
Both Mia and Bella are doing well and have become Israeli heroes. After so many beloved family pets being shot or losing their families on October 7, this touched us to the heart. I still cry when I see this picture:
.
.
While the three women were freed, the two men stayed behind in captivity. On Ynet, an Israeli newssite, Clara described how they said goodbye to Fernando and Luis:
” ‘See you soon,’ we said. At that point, it wasn’t dramatic externally, but it was incredibly tough for us. Louis is a father of four and a grandfather to ten grandchildren. I asked him what message to convey to the family, and he said, ‘Wait for me in the green gardens, tell them I love them very much, and soon we’ll see each other and embrace.’ And then we hugged and parted ways.”
“I was supposed to be very happy after the liberation from the Gaza Strip, but a part of me remained there – both my partner and my brother. It’s weighing heavily on me, and I don’t exactly feel like I came back – in my head I’m still there. Physically I’m here, but the feeling is that a big part of me remains there. Right now, I’m making every effort to enter the fight and fight as much as possible so that they come back.”
.
.
Luis and Fernando would remain in captivity for 129 days. On the night of February 12, 2024, both men were finally freed by the Israeli army in an operation called Golden Hand. They were being kept in a civilian apartment building in Rafah and guarded by armed terrorists. The terrorists did not surrender but engaged in the fight and were killed by the IDF (excuse me if I have no sad feelings about this whatsoever). Luis and Fernando were evacuated in a helicopter and no IDF soldiers were hurt.
This is incredible and the best news we could ever hear. It is so encouraging. It tells us that all the hostages are probably in Rafah and as long as Hamas refuses to give them back, we will continue to fight until we have freed all of them.
The Argentinian president, Javier Milei, has visited Israel and expressed his joy and gratitude at seeing the two Argentinian hostages freed.
Luis and Fernando told the press they stayed in a civilian home in Gaza and were tasked with cooking and cleaning the house. They were afraid to say they were Jewish, but told the residents of the house that they were from Argentina. The residents tried to make conversation with them about soccer, which was probably quite surreal. Both Luis and Fernando are in good health, although both lost a good deal of weight and body condition.
The video and pictures of their reunion with their family are heartwarming. We are so, so happy they are back. We love you, Luis and Fernando! 🧡
.
—
There is something else I want to say. I write my blog posts and make videos only because I want to honour the murdered and the hostages and to tell their stories. The true crime community on YouTube is completely ignoring us. I think what happened to us was a crime of epic proportions and I want the world to know the names of the victims of Hamas. Of course, I am prepared for backlash and for negative comments, that is only to be expected. But I want to address something in particular that was said to me recently.
I was called a “sick person” for expressing sorrow for the Israeli murdered and captured, but not for the Palestinian war victims. I want to make it clear here that I do not deny the suffering of the Palestinian people in any way. Their stories are just not mine to tell.
I don’t think identifying with your own community, feeling their pain and grieving for them is “sick”. We were attacked in a horrific and barbaric way and it is very difficult mentally to come to terms with the horror, the fear and the pain. Writing and making these videos helps me to process what happened to us.
That does not mean I think all Palestinians are evil and I don’t care about their suffering. I have to say I am kind of disillusioned about the possibility of peace with people who seem to hate us so much they rejoice in our pain. But I do not wish death and destruction on them. I can’t control what our government and the army does. I am a bystander.
So, it is my own community that I identify with and grieve for. I think that is only natural. I don’t expect any Palestinian to feel the same sorrow for us as they do for themselves. I cannot make Hamas give back the hostages, so we can stop this war and pick up the pieces. If I could, I would. I wish from the bottom of my heart for all of this to stop – to never have started in the first place. But Hamas decided otherwise. They are an extremely dangerous death cult, who use their own people as a human shield. Calling me sick and an evil Zionist and god knows what other names people have called me, will not resolve anything. There is only one way to stop this war: Stop Hamas.
Danny Darlington and Carolin Bohl
This is the last picture British photographer Danny Darlington took together with his friend, model and student Carolin Bohl. It is the last entry on his Instagram, now turned into a memorial page. He took this photo in kibbutz Nir Oz, where he and Carolin were staying with friends. I don’t know the exact day this photo was taken, but was not long before October 7, 2023.
Danny Darlington was born in Manchester, UK on April 7, 1989. His mother had been married before, to an Israeli man called Haim Peri, and they had two children together, Danny’s half-siblings Lior and Inbal Peri. Danny and his full sister Shelley were born in the UK, to another father. Haim went on to marry again and have another three children.
Danny kept in contact with his Israeli family and friends and travelled to see them a lot. Haim Peri and his second wife, Osnat, lived in kibbutz Nir Oz, while Lior and Inbal Peri now lived in Tel Aviv with their families. Danny usually visited them all, as well as friends he had in different places.
Danny was a talented photographer. He took art photos, portraits and landscape pictures. He loved photographing the Israeli landscape when he visited. The last few years of his life he lived and worked in Berlin.
.
Danny and Carolin Bohl were friends. She was often his model and the subject of his photos. She was not his girlfriend. Danny’s girlfriend was Carlotta Pollmann (Lotti), who was a tattoo artist. The three were very close friends and often hung out together.
.
Carolin was born in 2001 in the village of Otersen in Lower Saxony. She later moved to Berlin to study sustainable fashion. This is where she met Lotti and Danny, and started modelling for him. They became firm friends, and Danny wanted to take her to see Israel with him.
Their trip to Israel was a great success for the first two weeks. They went sightseeing in Jerusalem and floated in the Dead Sea. They sunbathed at the beach in Tel Aviv and went out at night with friends. They went trekking in the desert and stayed in kibbutz Nir Oz with Danny’s family and friends. Danny documented everything on Instagram.
.
This last picture is a screenshot of a video posted on Instagram, of Carolin looking into the sunset and listening to the muezzin call from the mosque in nearby Gaza.
The video is very peaceful and respectful. Carolin listens quietly. The sound of a call to prayer, whether it is church bells, the synagogue song or a muezzin call, is an invitation to introspection, to connect with the spiritual. It should be a sound of peace. In no way did Danny, Carolin or anyone else in Nir Oz disturb, mock or curse the sound of that prayer call. On the contrary, they were very respectful.
But that same muezzin might have been calling the people of Gaza to arms. Those same people gathering in the mosque might have already been planning their deadly invasion of the kibbutzim on the Gaza Envelope. Hamas members might have been praying to Allah for victory on October 7.
Danny and Carolin were not supposed to still be in Nir Oz that day. They were originally planning to leave for Tel Aviv on Friday, October 6. But they decided to stay another night in the beautiful, quiet kibbutz.
Early the next morning, thousands of terrorists broke through the border and invaded the kibbutzim, killing, burning and butchering people hiding in their houses. Danny and Carolin went into the safe room of the house where they were staying, but the terrorists found them. Carolin managed to send a last text to her mother: “Thank you for everything you did for me. I love you.”
Their bodies were found shot to death the next day. Haim Peri, the father of Danny’s half-siblings, was abducted to Gaza. Lior Peri was left to try to pick up the pieces, to explain the tragedy to the family in Manchester, to contact Carolin’s family in Germany and to somehow tell his own young children that their fun British uncle was not coming to visit anymore. And that their grandfather was now a hostage. I can’t imagine the pain they all must be going through.
Carolin’s sister Anja Pasquesi posted this on social media:
Danny’s sister Shelley posted this:
“I cannot believe I am writing these words. My baby brother, Danny, was killed in the terrorist attacks in Nir Oz, Israel, on Saturday 7th October 2023. My heart is broken. I cannot fathom this senseless barbarity. Watching the horrors unfold in Israel and the heinous acts committed against my people is sickening to the core. Many people are still missing, many taken hostage into Gaza and many lives lost… my friends, my family, elderly, women and children.
I am living in a waking nightmare. I do not want to believe I will never see my sweet brother again. Never be able to hug him or hear his infectious laugh again. He was gentle, and kind, and a pacifist at his core. He touched the lives of so many people and was loved by everyone he met.
He did not deserve this.”
Two months later, Danny’s girlfriend and Carolin’s friend Lotti organized a photo exhibition at a Berlin art gallery to honour Danny and Carolin. Many of their friends and family members came to admire Danny’s work and to remember the two.
.
.
Haim Peri, the father of Danny’s half-siblings, is 79 years old. He lived in Nir Oz since he was a teenager. On October 7, he gave himself up to the terrorists so his wife Osnat could stay hidden. He has been a hostage ever since. He appeared in a Hamas video on December 18 together with two other elderly men. His family is very worried about him, as he suffers from a heart condition and does not have his medication.
.
.
Danny, Carolin and Haim are all victims of Hamas. So are all their family members and friends, everyone who grieves for them. They did not deserve any of this. My heart goes out to all three of them, but especially to Carolyn. She was so young and was in Israel only to see the interesting things this country has to offer. Her death was a terrible injustice. As was Danny’s.
The world is a sadder place without these two beautiful, talented people.
.
The Cunio Family
Nir Oz is a small kibbutz close to the Gazan border. In September 2023, it had around 400 residents. On October 7, 38 of those people were murdered and 77 were abducted. A quarter of the entire population of Nir Oz was gone. The kibbutz itself was completely destroyed. The survivors are staying elsewhere now and they will likely never be able to go back home.
.
.
In a kibbutz that small, not only does everyone know everyone, but a lot of people are family. With 77 kidnapped, Nir Oz residents form the largest group of the 240 hostages. Entire families were dragged from their houses. Four generations. From nine month old Kfir Bibas to 86 year old Aryeh Zalmanovich.
This is the story of how nine members of the same extended family were taken hostage. This is the story of the Cunio/Aloni/Yehud family.
David and Sharon Cunio
David Cunio is one of four brothers. One of them, Eitan, is his twin. David and Eitan are both actors. They appeared together in the Israeli film Youth from 2013. At the set of that movie, David met Sharon Aloni. They fell in love, got married and had their adorable twin daughters: Emma and Yuli. They lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, as did all of David’s brothers and his parents, Silvia and Jose Luis Cunio, who immigrated to Israel from Argentina in 1986.
Danielle and Emilia Aloni
Sharon’s sister Danielle is a single mother of a beautiful 5 year girl, Emilia. They live in Yavne, but the sisters are very close and visit each other a lot. On the day of the Hamas invasion, Danielle and Emilia were staying with the Cunio family.
Ariel Cunio and Arbel Yehud
Ariel Cunio is David’s youngest brother. He has been together with his girlfriend Arbel Yehud for five years. They had been travelling in South and Central America and they had just adopted a puppy, a few weeks before the Hamas invasion. Both Ariel and Arbel were born and raised in Nir Oz, and their families lived there.
Dolev Yehud
Dolev Yehud is Arbel’s older brother. He lived in Nir Oz too, with his wife Sigal and his three children. Dolev is a medical professional and volunteers with two different nonprofit organizations. He suffers from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, a chronic autoimmune disease, which he manages with medication.
Hamas invasion
On October 7, 2023, al of these families barricaded themselves in their respective safe rooms while the terrorists roamed through the kibbutz, shouting and shooting. They kept in contact with each other through text, terrified and expecting the worst.
David, Sharon and Danielle hid in their safe room with the three children. At some point, they heard the terrorists in the house, and later, they realized the house had been set on fire. The room filled with smoke and they knew they had two choices: stay in the room and choke to death, or leave the room and face the terrorists. They chose the latter.
Ariel and Arbel were both also abducted from their apartment in the kibbutz. Dolev went out of his house to help the injured people outside, while his wife Sigal, who was nine months pregnant, hid in their safe room with the children. Fortunately, she and the children managed to stay hidden, but Dolev was taken by Hamas.
Months later, Danielle told Ynet this:
“It’s a fear that cannot be explained, these are emotions that the human mind can’t contain. We understand that we are going to end our lives in the cruelest way possible, by inhaling smoke and choking to death. I hug Emilia and say to her, ‘My love, I’m sorry, we’re about to die.’
We left farewell notes, and then I had to choose how I’d die – which death would be easier, quicker. Death by smoke inhalation felt very close. Sharon no longer argued at this point; she got up and helped me open the room’s window. We closed our eyes and waited. We heard gunfire outside, shouting.”
They fully expected to die. But they didn’t. They were taken captive separately, loaded on to a truck with other people, and driven to Gaza. Sharon and Danielle didn’t see each other again during their time in the tunnels of Hamas. Fortunately, they were able to stay with their children.
Sharon, Danielle and the children were hostages for seven weeks. Danielle appeared in a video released by Hamas after several weeks. She was told to say the same thing that the other hostages had to say in all of these videos: blame Israel, tell them to stop fighting so you can go home.
At the end of November, during the week long ceasefire, Sharon, Danielle and the three children were released. But David, Ariel, Arbel and Dolev are still hostages, more than 100 days later. There has been no communication and no updates about their situation.
Silvia and Jose Luis Cunio, the parents of David and Ariel, and Yehi and Yael Yehud, the parents of Arbel and Dolev, are all under incredible stress. They haven’t heard a word about how their children are doing. They are hurting and worried. Yehi said to Ynet: “It feels like a part of the soul is missing, 100 days that feel to us like one long day that never ends.”
Dolev needs medication, that he has not been able to take for more than three months now. The Red Cross has refused to take medication to the hostages and has not visited them. Many of the hostages’ families are upset and angry about this. Some of the hostages are severely ill or wounded and there have been no updates on how they are doing. This is of course completely separate from the fact that Hamas has no right whatsoever to keep these people captive. Whatever they thought they would achieve by doing this, and by commiting the horrific crimes of October 7, is beyond me. All they have achieved is a terrible war and extensive suffering to people on both sides of the divide. They keep telling us to stop fighting, but refuse to give us back what they have taken from us: the hostages.
.
.
Ten days after Dolev was taken, his fourth child was born. Sigal, his wife, called the little girl Dor, a name very close to the name of her father. Sigal and Dolev have been together since they were 12 years old. “My life now is not a life, I’m missing half of it,” she said.
.
Since her return from captivity, Sharon has spoken to the media about the ordeal she went through. She describes how at first, she and David and Yuli were brought to a civilian house and held there. They were worried about Emma, they feared they had lost her forever. Later, it turned out that Emma was with Danielle and Emilia.
After the house they stayed in was bombed, they were brought to the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and kept prisoner there. After three days there, Emma was brought to them and they were forced to thank their captors on camera.
They had to stay in a small room with a varying number of other hostages. Sharon slept with the two girls on a bloodstained mattress. They got two meals a day, consisting of rice and sometimes mouldy pita bread. Sharon lost 11 kilos and they all got food poisoning at least once.
“A lot of the times, the girls were just crying, saying ‘I’m hungry,’” she said. “It was devastating.”
“Every minute is critical. The conditions there are not good and the days go on for ever. It’s a Russian roulette. You don’t know whether tomorrow morning they’ll keep you alive or kill you, just because they want to or just because their backs are against the wall.” (Haaretz)
She said David blamed himself, because they lived in Nir Oz because of him. When they were told that Sharon and the children were going to be released, but not David, they held each other and cried for hours. David told her: “Fight for me. Don’t give up. Please yell what I cannot yell.”
So this is what she does. She tells her story and campaigns for the release of all the hostages, together with the rest of the families, in Israel and abroad. Her daughters ask for their daddy every day. She doesn’t know what to tell them. She says: “I die of fear every day, that he will be in the next brutal video they release. I am stuck. I’m on hold. For me, life stopped at the moment I was separated from David.” (The Times of Israel)
Hold on, Sharon. Hold on, David, Ariel, Arbel and Dolev. We are coming for you. 🧡
#bringthemhome
.
—
UPDATE 3/6/24:
The remains of Dolev Yehud have been identified in kibbutz Nir Oz. It turns out he was never abducted, but murdered and burned on October 7, along with so many others. This is devastating news. May his memory forever be a blessing. Dolev flies free now 🦋
Erick and Ruth Peretz – together as one
The massacre at Supernova is one huge, terrible chain of demonic cruelty and horror. I have heard fragments of stories that I cannot repeat. They are lodged in my brain like shards of glass. I can’t examine them, at least not yet. Maybe one day, I will be able to do that research and get those sharp slivers out. Let the cut me until it bleeds. Sadistic torture and brutality. Sexual violence so awful and extreme that it makes you sick. It speaks of a group of people so depraved, so full of hate, with so much disdain for human life, that they would commit these crimes while laughing and filming themselves. It is inconceivable.
This monstrous group shot entire families with young children execution style. They burned down houses with babies inside. They murdered 90 year old Holocaust survivors in cold blood. They killed dogs defending their homes and laughed about it. They shot unarmed young people fleeing for their lives. And they killed a severely handicapped child in a wheelchair without a moment’s hesitation.
.
.
Erick and Ruth Peretz were a familiar sight at raves and music festivals in Israel. Ruth Peretz was 16 years old and suffered from cerebral palsy, muscular atrophy and mental disability. But that didn’t stop her from living her life to the fullest. Although she didn’t have much control over her body, Ruth loved music and dancing. So her dad, Erick, took her to parties whenever he could.
Erick was a happy-go-lucky man who loved surfing and dedicated his life to the care of his daughter. Ruth’s half-sister, Yaarit, told Ynet: “For years he would go to these festivals and bring Ruth, because it made her really happy and she loved it. There were times he would take her and she didn’t want to come home. It was their tradition, to go to festivals.”
Ruth was mostly nonverbal and could speak only a few words. Only her family knew how to communicate with her. From the moment she was born, Erick dedicated his life to her care. He stopped working and became her fulltime carer. Her older sister Yamit says: “Over the years, Ruth became the light in the house. My father took me by the hand and taught me how to hang out with Ruth. We were constantly at parties and at the beach. We were together all the time. My Bat Mitzvah trip was to festivals around the world.” (Shavvim.co.il)
.
On October 7, Ruth and Erick were at the Supernova festival. They had been there for several days, camping out with all Ruth’s equipment. Yamit had been there with them the previous day, but left that evening. Erick and Ruth enjoyed themselves so much that they decided to stay the night. Early the next morning, Yamit and her half-sister, Yaarit, realized what was happening in the south of the country, and they called Erick in a panic. At that time, Erick and Ruth were ok and trying to get out of the site of the festival. “Everything is ok, I’m with security,” Erick told his daughters.
But that would be the last time Yamit and Yaarit heard their father’s voice. A friend of Erick’s, who was also at Supernova, posted later on Facebook, telling the story of the last moments of Erick and Ruth’s lives:
“About eight in the morning, Erick Peretz calls me over with a smile and invites me to have coffee with him. Come on, have fun, brother. His daughter Ruth is in the car with her phone, on YouTube. I start making the coffee in the back of the van. While we’re drinking coffee and laughing, at around eight-thirty, suddenly people are shooting at us. Erick’s car got hit by a bullet. I scream at him, “Get out of here!” He gets into the car and drives off with Ruth, and I run in the opposite direction, leaving everything behind. My brother calls me, I run to him, get in the car. We drive but we get stuck. Erick also gets stuck in the car because everything is blocked. We get out of the car. Erick takes Ruth and runs into the forest. I also started running towards the forest. While running I see people falling like bowling pins. I never saw Erick and Ruth again.” (Ynet)
For almost two weeks, Erick and Ruth’s fate was unknown. Their car and Ruth’s wheelchair were found at the site of Supernova, but there was no sign of the father and daughter. Their family was desperately worried. Ruth could not eat solid food and relied on tubefeeding. She would not survive in captivity.
.
Then, twelve days later, the burned and unrecognizable body of Erick Peretz was identified. In their grief, the family still had a sliver of hope that Ruth would be found alive. But Yamit was absolutely sure that her father and Ruth were together. She asked to delay the funeral of her father, to search the remains more carefully, to check if her little sister was with Erick. But the family didn’t agree to this, and Erick was buried.
Time went by, and a month later, Ruth still had not been found. It was impossible for her to still be alive after all this time. Yamit knew in her heart that Erick and Ruth were in that grave together. She said to Ynet: “I was a million percent sure that they were buried together. I had no doubt that they were together, from day one.”
In the end, Erick’s grave was opened and the contents were examined again. It turned out that Yamit was right. The remains were not only Erick’s, but Ruth’s as well. They had been burned and melted, twisted and entwined together. Yamit knew that her father would never have left her sister alone for even one second. If they were facing death, they would have faced it together.
The second funeral was for both father and daughter. The entire party scene grieved for these two beautiful, gentle souls, who wanted nothing in this world but to be together, camp out in nature and enjoy the music.
I don’t know what comes after death, but I hope Ruth and Erick are dancing and surfing. I hope they come to visit Yamit in her dreams, as she asked them to do at the funeral. I know that they are together, always, as they were in life.
.
Stories of Israel 