Heartbreaking stories emerged of the number of children held captive by Hamas as the terror group launched an unprecedented attack over the weekend — and innocent children believed to be in the hands of the attackers were as young as 9 months old.
Loved ones in Israel and abroad are now scrambling for answers, and – following Hamas’ pledge to execute a ransom for every Israeli airstrike that hits a Gaza home – are pleading with the kidnappers to spare the youngest’s life.
The terrorist group, meanwhile, claimed to have stockpiled “dozens” of captives in “safe havens and tunnels and resistance” on the border in Gaza, Hamas spokesman Abu Obeid said in a Telegram post.
Below, are the stories of some of the youngest hostages believed to be in Hamas custody – and their eventual fate unknown.
Shiri, her husband Yarden, and their two sons have been missing since Saturday.Facebook
Ariel and Kfir Bibas
A brief video that went viral on social media showed kindergarten teacher Shiri Shiri Silberman-Bibas holding her sons – Ariel, 3, and 9-month-old Kfir – as the family was abducted by Hamas from their kibbutz in southern Israel Saturday.
The family – including husband and father Yarden Bibas – were hiding in a safe room when the terrorists descended.
“I couldn’t believe the pictures,” Silberman-Bibas’ cousin, Yossi Sneider, told the BBC of the gruesome footage.
Ariel, 3, and 9-month-old Kfir were kidnapped with their parents, the family said. Facebook
“They have taken him without any food, without any diapers, without anything,” he said of the two boys.
“We just hope they don’t separate them from their mothers.”
Silberman-Bibas’ husband, Yarden, and her parents have also been missing since Saturday.
Raz, age 5, and Aviv, age 3, were kidnapped by Hamas along with their mother and grandmother, their heartbroken father said.Instagram/Doron Katz Asher
Raz and Aviv Asher
Five-year-old Raz and 3-year-old Aviv Asher are believed to have been held hostage along with their mother, Doron Asher Katz, and their grandmother, heartbroken father Yoni Asher told the New York Times.
The girls and their mother were visiting their grandmother’s village in southern Israel when Hamas closed in, Asher explained.
“She told me, ‘There’s a terrorist in the house,'” he recalled of his wife’s frantic, whispered phone call early Saturday.
Husband and father Yon Asher believes he recognizes his wife, Doron, in a Hamas video abducting several Israeli civilians.TikTok
Asher thought he recognized his wife, daughter and mother-in-law in the hostage video bundled in the back of a pickup truck, he told the Times.
“I couldn’t sleep — I was living outside my own body,” Asher said.
“I have two little babies, two little girls. These little babies cannot be held or cared for by terrorists.”
Yoni Asher is now pleading for the safe return of his wife and two little girls.Instagram/Doron Katz Asher
Dafna and Ella
Divorced mother of two Mayyan Zin found out her daughters – Dafna, 15, and Ella, 8 – had been kidnapped by Hamas when a relative sent her a picture on Telegram of the girls sitting on a mattress, apparently in captivity.
Zin later found a video of armed men breaking into her ex-husband’s house in Kibbutz Nahal Oz while her children sobbed watching.
Later, a second video showed his father being taken across the border into Gaza.
“Just take my daughters home and to their families. Everyone,” asked Zin.
Yahel Neri Shoham, Haveh Shoham, Noam Avigdori
Eleven family members of Israeli lawyer Shaked Haran – including three children between the ages of 3 and 12 – have been missing since Hamas stormed their home in Kibbutz Be’eri early Saturday, a close friend told The Post Tuesday.
In addition to his parents, sister and brother-in-law, nephew Haran Yahel Neri Shoham, 3; Naveh Shoham, 8; and 12-year-old Noam Avigdori, believed to have been brought into Gaza.
Eleven members of one family – including three children – disappeared after Hamas stormed their kibbutz. The Haran family
The three young girls also have German citizenship.
“Someone picked up one of the phones in Arabic-accented Hebrew and said something along the lines of ‘Kidnapped’ and “Gaza’ and hung up,” family friend Rachel Gur told The Post of the family’s last communication from their missing loved one.
Sahar and Erez Kalderon and Noya Dan
Siblings Sahar and Erez Kalderon and their cousin Noya Dan were violently taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz Saturday along with their father and uncle and their grandmother, said older sister Gaya Kalderon.
Sahar, 16, and Erez, 12, were kidnapped by Hamas early Saturday, their older sister said. Facebook / Noam Dan
A heartbreaking video shows Erez, 12, looking distressed as he is manhandled by Hamas gunmen near a barbed wire fence.
“It’s so hard to watch… I’ve never felt like this, I don’t have tears anymore, I can’t cry because I’m crying too much,” Gaya – who was in Tel Aviv at the time. attack – words about the recording.
“He was in his pajamas, he just woke up in the middle of the night and someone came and took him.”
Just before the terrorists stormed their home, Gaya said Sahar, 16, sent the message “My mother loves you” in the family group message.
A terrifying video shows a boy believed to be Erez being assaulted by Hamas gunmen.
“I knew it was probably because he knew it was the end or something,” she said of the haunting final text.
Ofer, Sahar, and Erez were taken from one house, while grandmother Carmela, 80, and cousin Noya, 13, were kidnapped from another house nearby, explained Gaya.
Gaya’s mother and brother were in another house, and were not taken.
“We just need them back. It doesn’t matter that we don’t have a house anymore, it’s all burnt down, I just need them back,” the 21-year-old said of her missing family members.
Kalderon’s cousin, Noya Dan, and their grandmother Carmela, were also taken by Hamas.Facebook / Noam Dan
Brother, age 16 and 12
A desperate Israeli mother – who asked not to be identified for security reasons – said her 12- and 16-year-old sons had been kidnapped by Hamas while talking to her on the phone, ABC News reported.
She hadn’t been able to sleep or eat since about 6:30 a.m. Saturday, when her sons called her from their father’s home on a kibbutz near the Gaza border, the woman told ABC’s Linsey Davis.
The boys were home alone, and called their mother from the safe room, he explained.
“I call them every few minutes. Somewhere around half past 8:00 [a.m.], they started saying that they heard gunshots outside the house. I tried to calm them down, telling them it might be the army or our people who shot,” he said.
Eventually, he said, the boys told him they thought they heard someone break into the house.”
“It took about 10 more minutes, and I could hear two or three people talking in Arabic outside the entrance,” the mother said. “My youngest child, who is only 12 years old, [was] said to them, ‘Don’t take me, I’m too young.’ That’s all. The line is disconnected. That was the last I heard from them.”
Mom is now living in a nightmare.
“They were taken from their homes, from their beds, by barbarians. I can’t find another word for it,” he said of his son’s abduction.
He later found out from another video that the boy’s father and his girlfriend were also taken.
“I just hope that they are together now,” she said.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
