{"id":17699,"date":"2024-04-07T12:46:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T12:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/six-months-after-october-7-it-still-feels-like-day-1-for-hostage-families\/"},"modified":"2024-04-07T12:46:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T12:46:32","slug":"six-months-after-october-7-it-still-feels-like-day-1-for-hostage-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/six-months-after-october-7-it-still-feels-like-day-1-for-hostage-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Six months after October 7, it still feels like Day 1 for hostage families"},"content":{"rendered":"

Life changed in Israel on October 7 last year. The unexpected and overwhelming assault by at least 1,500 Hamas fighters, pouring into Israel by land, sea and\u00a0even paragliders, killed about 1,200 people, Israeli authorities said. More than 250 people were taken hostage and moved to Hamas\u2019 Gaza stronghold. <\/p>\n

Much has happened in the six months since. The massacres at a music festival in the desert and kibbutz communities prompted Israel to declare war on Hamas, leading to air and ground attacks that have devastated Gaza and the lives of the more than two million people for whom it is home. <\/p>\n

October 7: Hamas launches deadly surprise attacks\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n

The piercing shrieks of air-raid sirens were the first hint of trouble for many Israelis at about 6:30 a.m. on October 7. But for Maya Regev at the all-night Nova music festival, it was the sudden absence of noise that jolted her. The teenager was with her younger brother Itay, one of her best friends Omer Shem-Tov and others, dancing and enjoying themselves. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all together and I just told Omer that it\u2019s the most fun I had, for a lot of time,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then it was the moment that the music shut down and they told us that there are rockets.\u00a0 We look up and we see the rockets just fly above our heads.\u201d <\/p>\n

Then the shooting began, and Maya, Itay and Omer ran to look for shelter before they connected with a friend and got in their car. That car was fired on by gunmen in a truck, Maya said, and she was hit in both legs. Her brother was wounded too. They were taken from the car and put in a pickup truck, all the while being filmed. That video became public on Saturday night, when Omer\u2019s parents were desperately trying to find him. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw Omer kidnapped,\u201d said his mother, Shelly Shem-Tov. \u201cI saw on the video that Omer is in the floor of a pickup truck with handcuffs on his hands.\u201d <\/p>\n

Other parents learned the fate of their children the same way. Ayelet Levy Shachar\u2019s daughter Naama was taken from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where she was staying. Amid the chaos of the day, Ayelet thought maybe Naama was just unable to reach her. Then she learned through a relative there was a video showing her daughter. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s being dragged out of the trunk of a jeep and then dragged by her hair and shoved into the backseat. It\u2019s a very, very violent video,\u201d she said. \u201cShe\u2019s handcuffed with her hands behind her back. And I saw that her face is injured and that she\u2019s barefoot. And there\u2019s a lot of bloodstains. Her pants are stained. You can almost not recognize her because it\u2019s such a mess.\u201d <\/p>\n

The hostages were driven through broken barriers to Gaza. Maya said: \u201cWhen we drove inside, they did, like, a little trip in the roads and screamed Allahu Akbar (God is great.) And they just wanted to show what they caught. I was with my head down, and one of them grabbed my hair and pulled it back so everyone will see my face. And everyone was so happy on the street. And I was so scared.\u201d <\/p>\n

October 9: Israel orde<\/em>rs <\/em><\/strong>a \u201ccomplete siege\u201d<\/em><\/strong> of Gaza<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

\u201cI think for a week and a half, we just kept quiet and still,\u201d said Ayelet of the immediate aftermath of the attacks. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to recall what went on in these days. What did we do? What happened? It\u2019s a blur.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hadas Kalderon was away from her children when their kibbutz was attacked. She could get no information about son Erez, 11, her daughter Sahar 12, or their father Ofer. They had called to tell her they were hiding in a bush but after that, nothing. Hamas\u2019s propaganda videos of the raids unexpectedly gave her hope that they too were kidnapped not murdered. And when she did see images of Erez being taken on a motorbike, she thought \u201cit was a miracle.\u201d Relocated with the rest of the kibbutz to a hotel, she decided: \u201cWe start to work. From the first day we start to work,\u201d she said. What could they do to get their families home. <\/p>\n

October 20: Hamas releases<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>two US women<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>on humanitarian grounds. Three days later, <\/em>two elderly women<\/em><\/strong> are also freed from Gaza<\/em> <\/p>\n

In Gaza, the hostages were learning the rules of captivity. Maya\u2019s leg had been shattered by the gunfire. She says she was first taken into the tunnels and then to a hospital. \u201cYou have to suffer quietly. It\u2019s something that also came home with me, unfortunately. I\u2019m still learning how to say that I\u2019m in pain to the doctors because I got used to just not saying that I\u2019m in pain and be quiet.\u201d <\/p>\n

October 27: Israel Defense Forces say they ar<\/em>e <\/em><\/strong>\u201cexpanding ground operations\u201d <\/em><\/strong>in<\/em><\/strong> Gaza<\/em> <\/p>\n

In Israel, Hadas was adrift. \u201cFrom the beginning, I felt all alone. I felt like I\u2019m fighting by myself. Nobody came to tell me what to do.\u201d She finds purpose by giving media interviews to highlight the plight of her children and all the other hostages. It\u2019s the same for Shelly and her husband Malki, who began the Hostages and Missing Families Forum with other relatives of the taken within hours of the events. <\/p>\n

In Gaza, Omer Shem-Tov and Itay Regev kept track of time by noting the sunrises and the Muslim call to prayers. Each Friday at sundown, they say the kiddush blessing to usher in the Jewish Sabbath, sometimes with a little grape juice standing in for wine. <\/p>\n

October 30: The Israeli military says it has rescued <\/em>Pvt. Ori Megidish<\/em><\/strong> from Gaza\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n

Megidish would later tell Naama Levy\u2019s family she was with their daughter for the first four days. It was the first news they had of her in Gaza. <\/p>\n

A day later, on October 31, Omer turned 21. \u201cOn his birthday a lot of friends of Omer came over here,\u201d Omer\u2019s father Malki Shem-Tov said. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t celebrate it of course, but they came with 200 yellow balloons \u2026 We just say, \u2018We send the prayer to Omer,\u2019 and we let go all the balloons.\u201d <\/p>\n

His parents learn afterwards that this is the first day that Omer cried since he was taken. \u201cHe was crying because he thought about us,\u201d his mother Shelly said. <\/p>\n

November 15: Israel <\/em>raids Al-Shifa hospital <\/em><\/strong>in search of Hamas militants, after a siege of several days\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n

After her leg was operated on, Maya was held by herself, guarded by a woman and a man. She tried to befriend them. \u201c45 days, it\u2019s a lot of time to be alone. I will just go insane. So I started talking to her,\u201d she said of her ever-present guard. \u201cI asked her about her life. What is she doing? Why is she here? I told her what happened to me. I tried to make her feel sorry for me so she will treat me well. And it worked.\u201d Maya said she was able to get some news from her captors, including of a pending ceasefire. <\/p>\n

November 24: Truce begins. <\/em>24 hostages<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 including 10 Thai citizens\u00a0\u2013 are released\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n

The news brought mixed emotions to those desperately waiting for their loved ones to come home. Ayelet said, \u201cI was happy for any hostage being released, but I couldn\u2019t watch others being released and not my daughter.\u201d <\/p>\n

November 25: <\/em>17 hostages<\/em><\/strong> released, including Maya Regev\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n

The temporary ceasefire brought some mixed emotions to Gaza too. Maya said: \u201cIt\u2019s the first time that you can really sleep in peace because there is no bombing. But you can\u2019t because you\u2019re so excited. Maybe this is your day. Maybe now you\u2019re going home.\u201d <\/p>\n

November 26: Anothe<\/em>r <\/em><\/strong>17 hostages<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>are freed\u00a0<\/em> <\/p>\n

November 27: <\/em>Eleven hostages<\/em><\/strong> released, including Erez and Sahar Kalderon<\/em> <\/p>\n

\u201cSahar was in the tunnels,\u201d her mother Hadas said. \u201cShe talked about there is no sun and no good air. You can\u2019t really breathe. And there is not much food \u2026\u00a0 You don\u2019t know if it\u2019s day or night. You can\u2019t really sleep because you\u2019re afraid to fall asleep because somebody with a gun is just near to you. How can you sleep like that?\u201d <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Sahar Kalderon was separated from her brother and held in tunnels underneath Gaza.<\/span> <\/div>\n

Courtesy Kalderon Family<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
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Erez Kalderon was mostly held captive alone. He turned 12 while he was a hostage.<\/span> <\/div>\n

Courtesy Kalderon Family<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Erez, who turned 12 in Gaza, was held alone for much of his captivity. Since getting her children back, Hadas has tried to offer a haven for them, but that\u2019s impossible with their father still in Gaza. \u201cI\u2019m trying to give them a warm house and normal life and to get back to routine. But there is no routine. It\u2019s a lie. There is no routine because there\u2019s no end to this situation. We are all still in the 7th of October.\u201d <\/p>\n

November 28: <\/em>Twelve hostages<\/em><\/strong> freed<\/em> <\/p>\n

November 29: A further <\/em>16 hostages<\/em><\/strong> are released, including Itay Regev and Yarden Roman-Gat<\/em> <\/p>\n

Yarden Roman-Gat\u2019s cause had been relentlessly pushed by her brothers Gili and Liri and her sister Roni, with support from other family members and friends. Yarden, along with her husband Alon and their three-year-old daughter Geffen, had escaped from a kidnapper\u2019s car as it approached Gaza and they ran for safety. Yarden passed her girl to Alon, knowing that he was a stronger runner. She was recaptured, they were not. <\/p>\n

November 30: <\/em>Eight hostages<\/em><\/strong> are freed<\/em> <\/p>\n

Some hostages told Ayelet they had seen Naama before they were released. This was the last time she had any news of her daughter. <\/p>\n

December 1: The <\/em>truce collapses<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Alon was reunited with his wife Yarden after her release\u00a0but the end of the deal between Hamas and Israel meant his sister Carmel was left behind. \u201cWe were sure that Carmel is going to be released the next day or the day after \u2013 maximum. And then the deal collapsed.\u201d <\/p>\n

The freed hostages were checked into the hospital and slowly started reconnecting with family and friends. For some, like Maya and Itay, it was important to reach out to the relatives of those who were their fellow captives. <\/p>\n

Itay said he and Omer became as close as brothers while they were held together. \u201cWe just talked about everything. He told me about his family, he told me about his friends. He told me about his whole life, and I did the same,\u201d Itay said. \u201cHe became the person who knows everything about me \u2026 and knows more about me than any other person I\u2019ve been around all these years.\u201d <\/p>\n

December 4 \u2013 Israel moves into Khan Younis and <\/em>southern Gaza\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

The remaining hostages began to enter their third month of captivity. Yarden described what it was like to be held. \u201cYou have no choice of anything in general. You cannot speak out. You cannot breathe deeply. You cannot be under the sky. There is no certainty,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very deep aspects of humanity that are taken away.\u201d <\/p>\n

December 15 \u2013 Israeli soldiers <\/em>kill three hostages<\/em><\/strong> in an operation in northern Gaza<\/em> <\/p>\n

The IDF said the three men, Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer Talalka, were wrongly identified as threats. <\/p>\n

January 15 \u2013 Hamas releases a video, apparently showing <\/em>two dead hostages<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

Whether or not the hostage families knew Itai Svirsky or Yossi Sharabi, they grieve all the same. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we hear that someone is murdered, we don\u2019t know him, but we know his family, that became our family. And it\u2019s like to lose somebody you know,\u201d Shelly said. <\/p>\n

As the length of the war on Hamas, and the hostages\u2019 captivity, ticked to 100 days, some of the former captives have been free longer than they were held. But Maya said her mind was always with those still held.\u00a0 \u201cI think about them all the time and with every single thing I do, in my day \u2013 every time I eat cake, I drink coffee, I brush my teeth \u2013 I think about them, that they don\u2019t have these things.\u201d <\/p>\n

February 7 \u2013 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu derides Hamas demands for another ceasefi<\/em>re <\/em><\/strong>as \u201cdelusional\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

It\u2019s another setback for relatives waiting for loved ones. Alon, who ran to safety with his toddler daughter and had his wife returned, is still missing his sister Carmel. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a traumatic experience, and it still is,\u201d he explained. \u201cI\u2019m still in the event. I\u2019m still waiting for Carmel to come back.\u201d Alon and Carmel\u2019s mother was murdered on October 7. He has not yet been able to grieve for her. \u201cThere\u2019s so many other things to do that I don\u2019t have the time in the mind for that. It will come, but not now.\u201d <\/p>\n

February 12 \u2013 Two Israeli-Argentinian men held by Hamas since October 7 were <\/em>rescued in an overnight raid<\/em><\/strong> by the IDF in Rafah<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

But the world\u2019s attention has increasingly focused on the utter devastation in Gaza, the number of innocent Palestinians killed and mistakes, or worse, by the IDF resulting in yet more deaths. With aid supplies blocked and aid agencies pulling resources because their staff aren\u2019t safe, no one in Gaza has enough to eat, a UN-backed report says. More than half of the Palestinians there are on the brink of starvation. <\/p>\n

Hostage families are having tense exchanges with Netanyahu, demanding more action. <\/p>\n

April 3 \u2013 Families of Israeli hostages storm the Knesset public gallery<\/em> <\/p>\n

Pressure continues to grow on Netanyahu from inside and outside Israel to stop the civilian deaths and deprivation in Gaza and to bring the hostages home. <\/p>\n

There remain 129 hostages in Gaza who were abducted on October 7, and about 95 are thought to be still alive.\u00a0Each has people desperate to see them again. <\/p>\n

\u201c(Omer) is my life,\u201d said his father Malki. \u201cI miss him. I miss him very much \u2026 We are in the mission of our life now. This is our mission to bring Omer back home.\u201d He added, \u201cWe are doing everything to bring him\u00a0back home. Everything. Everything. Everything.\u201d <\/p>\n

His wife Shelly summed up the last six months: \u201cOur life stopped at October 7th. Stopped. And it\u2019s a long, long, long nightmare.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a similar sentiment for Ayelet, whose daughter Naama is still missing. \u201cFor me, every morning I wake up, thankful that I could get some sleep even, that\u2019s not to be taken lightly. But I wake up and I think and I\u2019m feeling like it\u2019s the same day. Same day for me. Same pain.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life changed in Israel on October 7 last year. The unexpected and overwhelming assault by at least 1,500 Hamas fighters, pouring into Israel by land, sea and\u00a0even paragliders, killed about 1,200 people, Israeli authorities said. More than 250 people were taken hostage and moved to Hamas\u2019 Gaza stronghold. Much has happened in the six months <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17700,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17699","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}