‘We don’t want to bury three generations’: Longing for Hamas’ smallest hostage and his family

It’s been over a year since I last cuddled my nephew, Kfir. Nearly 390 days since his older brother, Ariel, flew into my loving arms.

Instead, baby Kfir, who was kidnapped at just nine months old, has spent more of his life as a prisoner than as a free man, with the gruesome distinction of being the youngest hostage in Gaza. And like millions of you around the world, the last time I saw the faces of my red-haired nephews was in the horrific images of Hamas terrorists kidnapping them along with my sister-in-law, Shiri. October 7, 2023.

For us it is still October 7, 2023. We are frozen in time.

My brother, Yarden, is also a hostage, separated from his wife and children. It’s been almost a year since I’ve sat on the porch chatting with Shiri or been the subject of Yarden’s teasing about my veganism. A year in which we thought about them day and night, talked about them instead of with them. Baby Kfir turned one year old as a hostage and Ariel turned five. On October 10, my brother celebrated his second birthday in captivity.

We don’t have any information about Shiri and the boys. We have indications that Yarden is still alive. And this gives me hope. Hope and fear.

I fear that Hamas kidnappers are abusing my family. I fear they are starving and barely alive, trapped in a dark, airless tunnel with little to no food, water, sunlight or air. I dread the day when I will hear a knock on my door announcing their deaths.

We learned from the tunnel where Hamas brutally executed six hostages on August 31 that there were no showers and no toilets, just a bucket and a few bottles in which to relieve themselves. Even prisoners in the most uncivilized prisons are treated under better conditions. And those are convicts. We are talking about innocent civilians here. Children. A child. Caught for a whole year.

So much has happened in the past year. Kfir celebrated his first birthday, Ariel turned five. This summer, the family planned to move north, away from the Gaza Strip, so they could build a better life for their children.

This year I gave birth. My child is already three months old. I pray he will meet his cousins ​​and aunt and uncle soon. Alive.

It’s been almost 365 days since my family is no longer just mine. I have witnessed how many of you have embraced and cared for my family as your own. A year in which the lives of my family members have been reduced to posters and photos.

I haven’t seen or spoken to my family in a year; we didn’t celebrate holidays and birthdays together. I don’t even know what Kfir looks like today.

How was your year?

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It’s hard to hear that my family’s lives come at a price. They are not cars or anything to trade for. It’s hard to know that so many interests like power, money, ego and politics outweigh the suffering of my family.

It should never be acceptable to hold children hostage. Kfir and Ariel must be released immediately, without conditions. Every day that Kfir and Ariel are held captive in Gaza, the sane, free world signals to terrorists around the world that they too can cross that thick red line.

The consequences of a ‘new normal’ will not end in the Middle East. In the attacks on the World Trade Center, terrorists targeted adults. Do you want terrorists to think they can now target children with impunity?

We have been fighting for the release of the hostages for more than 365 days. We need reinforcements. Please help us in any way you can. Share the hostages’ story, talk about their plight, and let anyone with the power to do anything know that you demand their release. Now.

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We need the global community and world leaders to pressure Hamas to accept an agreement to release all hostages. A deal is the only way we can see all the hostages at home, the only way I can see my beloved brother, his wife, and my two nephews again.

Our family chooses to believe in humanity. Kfir and Ariel’s grandparents were brutally murdered on October 7. We don’t want to bury three generations. Please help us urgently save the lives of the hostages. Every minute that passes could be their last.