The households have had no information of their family members because the Hamas assault. (File)
Paris, France:
Moran Betzer Tayar, wracked by anguish concerning the kidnapping of her nephew and his spouse by Hamas fighters on October 7, summed up her emotions throughout a press convention: “On Saturday morning, our lives stopped.”
The 54-year-old, talking in Paris on Wednesday, is on a European tour with different family members of hostages snatched by the Palestinian group throughout a raid that killed greater than 1,400 folks, most of them civilians.
Israel’s retaliation has to this point killed greater than 6,500 folks, together with 2,704 kids, Hamas says.
The Hamas operatives are nonetheless believed to be holding greater than 200 hostages.
It’s the plight of those people who Betzer Tayar — who says she is “nervous sick” and can’t eat — and her compatriots are determined to maintain within the public eye.
She advised a press convention organised by the Council of Jewish Establishments in France (CRIF) how her family members had been snatched from Kibbutz Nirim, the place neighborhood members had been reportedly besieged for 9 hours in one in all dozens of assaults staged on October 7.
– ‘They received me’ –
Two sisters — Shani and Might Yerushalmi — joined Betzer Tayar to explain how their sister, Eden, was taken from the bar the place she was working.
“She referred to as us, screaming, saying that terrorists had been taking pictures at them,” stated Shani Yerushalmi, describing the assault at a rave celebration the place 270 folks had been killed.
Eden hid amongst our bodies of her buddies in a automotive, her sister stated, earlier than attempting to make use of a bush as cowl.
“She advised us she may hear the terrorists coming,” Shani Yerushalmi stated. “We knew it was the final second along with her. Her final sentence was: Shani, they received me.”
She performed the screams of her sister, recorded on her telephone, to the gathered journalists.
One other of the ladies on stage, Ofir Weinberg, described how her cousin Itay Svirsky was taken from Kibbutz Beeri, the place Hamas fighters killed at the least 100 folks, based on Israeli authorities.
Messages started to pour into the household WhatsApp group on October 7 — the requires assist and the progress of the attackers documented minute by minute.
“I can not even start to explain the sensation you will have once you really feel such as you’re dropping your loved ones one after the other,” stated Weinberg.
The households have had no information of their family members because the Hamas assault. The Israeli military has confirmed solely that they’re among the many hostages taken to Gaza.
They’re asking for the Crimson Cross to be allowed to go to their family members to reply essentially the most primary questions — whether or not they’re nonetheless alive, the place they’re, and whether or not they’re damage.
However political questions stay taboo.
These caught in the course of the tragedy decline to take a position on the perfect plan of action for his or her family members: a floor invasion of Gaza or a ceasefire and negotiations.
“We’re not representing the nation… We do not inform Israel what to do,” stated Ofir Weinberg.
“I haven’t got the solutions. I am only a citizen.”
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
