Who are the hostages taken by Hamas from southern Israel?

Among those believed to be captives in Gaza are children, festival-goers, peace activists, caregivers, elderly people and soldiers. Here are some of their names and stories.

Ten members of a single family disappeared after Hamas assaulted the Be’eri kibbutz early on 7 October. Lilach Kipnis, 60, and her husband, Eviatar, 65, were taking refuge in the shelter of their home when their relatives last heard from them. Eight other family members also went missing from the kibbutz: Lilach’s sister Shoshan Haran, the founder of an agricultural NGO; her husband, Avshalom Haran; their daughter Adi Shoham; her partner, Tal Shoham; their two children, Naveh and Yahel Shoham, who are eight and three; Avshalom’s sister Sharon Avigdori; and her daughter Noam Avigdori.

The bodies of Eviatar Kipnis and Avshalom Haran were found on Tuesday 17 October. Eviatar Kipnis’s carer, Paul Vincent Castelvi, who was also killed, is one of three caregivers from the Philippines to have lost their lives.
Yonat Or, 50, her husband, Dror, also 50, and two of their three children, Noam, 15 and Alma, 13, are also missing after the attack on the Be’eri kibbutz. “Should I cry because they are dead already?” asked Yonat’s brother, Ahal Besorai. “Should I be happy because maybe they are captured but still alive? I pray to God every day that she will be found alive with her family and we can all be reunited.”
Vivian Silver
Vivian Silver, 74, a Candian-born feminist activist, has long called for peace with Palestinians. Photograph: Family photograph

Vivian Silver, 74, a Canadian-born feminist activist who has long called for peace with Palestinians, was also snatched from the same kibbutz. “She is a fighter for justice, and a great mother and grandmother,” Silver’s son, Yonatan Zeigen, 35, told Agence France-Presse.

Alex Dancyg, 75, a Holocaust historian who has written books on Poland’s Jewish community and the systematic murder of Jews during the second world war, was taken from the Nir-oz kibbutz. “All the guides in Poland, in Jewish sites and in Nazi camps, only use his books,” said a tour guide at Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

Ditza Heiman, 84, who worked as a social worker until she was 80, was also taken from the Nir-oz kibbutz, where she has lived for decades and played an important part in community life. Her family describes her as a beloved great-grandmother and a “woman of peace who is full of compassion and wisdom”.

Doron Asher Katz, 34, was taken from the Nir-oz kibbutz along with her daughters – Raz, five, and Aviv, three – and her mother, Efrat Katz, 67. “What are they doing to them?” asked Asher Katz’s sister, Leeor Katz-Natanzon. “Where are they? How are they treating them, with two young daughters?”

Amiram Cooper, 85, and his wife, Nurit, 80, were taken from their home on the Nir-oz kibbutz, their daughter Noa told the BBC. She said the family had last spoken to the couple during Hamas’s attack on the kibbutz but had managed to trace her father’s phone to Gaza. Noa told the broadcaster that the couple do not have their medicines.

Yaffa Adar, 85, was also kidnapped from the Nir-oz kibbutz. A video later surfaced showing her wrapped in a pink-flowered blanket and being driven in a golf cart in Gaza. Her family has denied suggestions that her unflinching demeanour in the footage suggests she was oblivious to what was happening. “She absolutely knew what was going on around her,” her granddaughter, Adva Adar, told the Associated Press. “She wasn’t going to panic.” Yaffa is without the medicine she needs for her blood pressure and her chronic pain.

Ada Sagi, 75, who was born in Tel Aviv to Holocaust survivors from Poland, is a retired Arabic teacher who has campaigned for peace in the region. She was seized from the Nir-oz kibbutz. “Maybe I’m a fantasist, but my hope is that they realise that they actually kidnapped 80 people from this community who are all peace activists,” said her son, Noam. “Everything in their fibre is about peace, it’s about love, it’s about kindness.” Also taken from the kibbutz were Sharone Lifschitz’s peace-activist parents, 85 and 83, whom she has not named for fear of reprisals.

Noiya, 16, a British citizen whose surname has not been revealed, is still missing after the attack on her home on the Be’eri kibbutz. Her mother, Lianne, and her sister, Yahel, 13, have been killed. Her father, Eli, remains missing. Speaking to the BBC while Yahel was still thought to be missing, her family described her as “funny, all the time”. They said Lianne was “a beloved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend who enriched the lives of all those lucky enough to have known and loved her”.

Celine Ben David Nagar, 35, went missing while on her way to the Supernova festival with two friends. Her husband, Ido Nagar, has been told that his wife survived the attack, but her friends did not. “We have a six-month-old baby,” he told the BBC. “This was supposed to be her one last party to enjoy before she returned to work. We agreed that I would pick her up at midnight, but she never came home.”

The family of Liri Elbag, 18, have been searching for news of the trainee soldier, who had just begun her military service by the Gaza border. A friend sent her father, Eli, a video showing Liri crowded into the back seat of an Israeli military truck that militants had taken, sitting next to two other hostages. “Nobody can understand what we are feeling,” said Eli.

Itay Chen, 19, was about a year into his military service in the Israeli armoured corps when his base near the Gaza border was attacked, his father, Ruby Chen, told reporters. Ruby Chen said the family was preparing to celebrate the barmitzvah of Itay’s brother Alon, adding: “We still hope this celebration … will happen in the near future.”

Owat Suriyasri, 40, from Sisaket province in eastern Thailand, is among dozens of migrant workers feared dead or kidnapped after the assault on southern Israel, where many work in agriculture and other sectors. He moved to Israel in 2021 for improved wages, hoping to build a better house for his wife and two children. His wife, Kanyarat Suriyasri, told AFP that her husband was a “very friendly, caring and happy man”. At least 18 Thai citizens have been killed and 11 seized, including Suriyasri.

Iván Illarramendi, 46, a Spanish citizen born in Zarautz, in the Basque Country, was taken from the Kissufim kibbutz with his wife, Loren Garcovich, who is reported to be a 47-year-old Chilean citizen with Israeli roots. “What gives me hope is that they’ve been kidnapped and haven’t been listed as being killed in the attacks,” Garcovich’s father, Danny, told Chilean TV. “As long as things stay that way, we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get them back.”

Mia Schem, 21, a French-Israeli woman taken hostage during the attack on the Supernova music festival, has appeared in a video released by Hamas. In the footage, Schem, whose injured arm is shown being treated by an unidentified medical worker, asks to be returned to her family as quickly as possible. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, described the video as “an odious act” and has demanded her unconditional release.

Noa Argamani, 26, a student at Ben-Gurion University in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, was abducted from the Supernova festival along with her partner, Avinathan Or. Argamani’s friends describe her as “a great friend with a big heart”.

Shani Louk, 22, a German-Israeli student from Berlin, is thought to have been kidnapped from the same festival. Her mother, Ricarda Louk, said she had received information that her daughter was “alive but has a severe head injury and is in critical condition”.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old from Jerusalem who was born in California, was last seen on 7 October when Hamas militants loaded him into the back of a pickup with other hostages abducted from the Supernova festival. His mother, Rachel Goldberg, described him as a survivor. “He’s not like this big, bulky guy,” she told the Associated Press. “But I think that survival has a lot to do with where you are mentally.”

Maya Regev, 21, and her brother Itay, 18, were taken from the same festival. Their family has discovered a Hamas video showing Itay in captivity in Gaza. Although Maya was not pictured in the video, the Israeli army has told the family both were hostages in Gaza. Officials gave no further information. “I want to know that my kids are alive,” said their father, Ilan Regev.

Source » theguardian.com