"Ofir has several loves, the first is to play basketball."
Ofir Engel | 17 years old, Kibbutz Ramat Rachel | Kidnapped from the home of his girlfriend from Bari
At Ofir Engel's home in Ramat Rachel, near Jerusalem, his basketball and the paddle board he loves are waiting for him alongside his family. Ofir recently enrolled in Eshkol's basketball team.
According to his father Yoav, "Ofir has several loves, the first is playing basketball. He's a pretty tall guy and played for Hapoel Jerusalem over the years. In the past year, he wanted to play in Eshkol's youth team, partly to be close to his partner, Yuval Sharabi, who lived in Bari - from where he was kidnapped. Ofir loves to travel, last June we both did a big trek in Slovenia.
"Another common love of ours is paddle boarding. We have two surfboards at home and on weekends we would go surfing. We're father and son and good friends and I can't wait for him to come home so we can surf together again."
Yoav and Sharon Engel. Ophir's parents, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
At home, Ofir is waiting for his father Yoav, his mother Sharon and two other sisters alongside family and friends. On the same Saturday that he was kidnapped, he stayed in Bari with the Sharabi family. "Already in the morning we heard and saw the terrorist attack," his father said, "until noon we were in contact with the family who were in the safe room. At a certain point, the connection was cut off, and in the evening his partner's mother called and told us that terrorists had taken them out of the safe room, led them along the kibbutz paths and put the father of the family Yossi Sharabi, our Ofir and several others who had been kidnapped in front of their eyes. It's just incomprehensible, even today, a month later, it still hasn't been absorbed."
Since Ofir was kidnapped, the Engel family has stopped working and is trying to secure his release in every possible way. "We went to Holland and Denmark with a delegation from the headquarters of the abductees to meet with diplomats and government officials. We feel like we're swimming in the middle of the ocean without knowing where we're headed. In the end, in the test of the result - Ofir is not yet with us. We expect the government to bring Ofir and the other abductees home now. With each passing day, the price we pay increases," Yoav concluded.
"Mia has a bag that really symbolizes her. Itai is a Beitar Jerusalem fan, his shirt and ball are waiting for him to return."
Maya and Itay Regev | 21 & 18 years old, Herzliya | Kidnapped from the party by bad guys
At the Regev home, Mirit is waiting for her two children, Mia and Itai, who were kidnapped from the party in Reim. On the morning of the party, on Friday, the three of them landed with younger brother Guy (14) from a vacation in Mexico. The beautiful bag that Maya brought from there is waiting for her at home, next to the shirt of Beitar Jerusalem - Itai's favorite team. Along with them, the dog Chocta is also waiting to be petted by the children.
"On Rosh Hashanah we flew to Mexico for three weeks, me and my three children," says Mirit. "It was a rare trip, we just laughed and enjoyed ourselves. The children smiled, danced. They are children who love life, they have a lot of plans for the future. On the trip, I bought Mia a bag that she really liked, very symbolic of her. Her glasses are here too, and she actually doesn't have glasses for distance vision now. Itai is a fan of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team, goes regularly to games, is a fan of them, and his shirt and ball are waiting for him to return. I'm already thinking about the fact that when the children come back we'll fly to Thailand together – they'll come back and it will happen."
Mirit Regev and Brother Guy, Photo: Coco
Next to Mirit and younger brother Guy is the family's dog Ray, whom the children gave her a nickname - Chocta. You can see the sadness about her, too. Mia and Itai were spending time at the Nova nature party in Reim when the attack began. They tried to escape, contacted their father and were later kidnapped. "We returned to Israel on Friday and on the same day they went to a party. When the attack began, they called Ilan, their father, and still didn't realize there were terrorists. At a quarter to nine in the morning, Mia called in fear, crying, saying, 'I'm being shot, I'm being shot, I'm dead.' Since then, contact with them has been cut off and we have been told that they have been kidnapped. So far we've seen a video of Itai being kidnapped - but Mia doesn't appear there."
Mirit has one request: "Everything must be done to bring back the abductees. This is the first priority. Most first and nothing else. The children need to be brought home. And if Mia and Itai hear me, I want to tell them that Mom, Dad, Guy and all the family and friends are doing everything to bring you home."
"They have a favorite ice cream parlor game. They always ask if I want a cup or a cup."
Raz and Aviv Asher | Girls 2 & 4, Ganot Hadar | Kidnapped together with an artist from their grandmother's house in Nir Oz
In the play corner of Raz and Aviv's home, an ice cream-making stand awaits them that they love so much. They have been in Gaza for a month after being kidnapped together with their mother, Doron. Their father, Yoni, a true hero, has been fighting for their rescue and release for a month.
"They are two little girls who love dolls and games, they are there in Gaza without their belongings, without the games," says their aunt, Yuval Cohen, Yoni's sister. "They have a favorite ice cream parlor game. When I come to them, they ask me if I want a cup or a cup and what taste. I'm just waiting for them to come back, to go eat ice cream with them, to treat them to chocolate. We'll just hug them and not leave. When they return, we won't refuse any of their requests."
Raz and Aviv's aunt, photo: courtesy of the family
With all the hope, the aunt is still troubled, "Raz and Aviv are pure souls, beautiful, gentle and smart girls with constant energy. Aviv is two years old and still attached to her pacifier. I wonder if she has it. They were kidnapped in short dresses and by night it was getting very cold. I ask myself if they brought them clothes. It is incomprehensible that girls of this age are in the hands of terrorists in Gaza."
On that Black Saturday, they were staying in Nir Oz with their murdered grandmother Efrat Katz. "We have a video from the kidnapping, that's how we found out they were kidnapped. You see them in a kind of wagon attached to a tractor with a lot of terrorists around, my sister-in-law Doron holding Aviv and you see Raz from the back. We haven't received any information since. We always have hope. We want to strengthen the soldiers who will return safely, and call on decision makers to do everything necessary so that they and the other abductees will return home today."
"Trying to stay optimistic, but teetering between it and despair"
Emilia Aloni | 5.5 years old, Yavne | Kidnapped with her mother, aunt and aunt and their daughters
In the yard of Ricky and Remus Aloni's home in Yavneh, their granddaughter Emilia's bike, along with the other games and toys, stand waiting for her to return. Emilia was abducted to Gaza with her mother Danielle, from whom the family received a sign of life in a video released by the Hamas terrorist organization. Along with them were another daughter of Ricky and Ramos, Sharon Konyo-Aloni, her two 3.5-year-old twin daughters, Yuli and her mother, and their father David.
"Emilia is one of our three granddaughters who are kidnapped," says Ricky. "Once every two weeks, our daughter Sharon comes with the twins from Nir Oz, and then the whole family gathers – Emilia and my daughter Daniel, who live in Yavneh. We eat Friday dinner in the yard and around we have lots of games, toys and bicycles for the granddaughters. It's fun to see my granddaughters like this, I don't have much pleasure from it, and I can't wait for them to come back and we can do it again. When I see all their pictures and items it excites me, I miss them."
Riki and her husband Ramos, Photo: Liron Moldovan
Since the six members of the family were abducted to Gaza, the family has opened a war room in Israel and abroad, and they are interviewed by the media in Israel and around the world: "Every piece of help that is offered to us we take, and everyone around us pitches in. I try to remain optimistic, but there is a oscillation between optimism and despair. I imagine how they will move here when they come back, until they have a new home, and on the other hand, sometimes I sink. I'm very anxious for their well-being." Ricky has a message: "I beg the prime minister to release all the abductees in exchange for all the terrorists. I don't have an idea or anything else to ask for, first we need the abductees to be at home."
"I hope Mia sees sky, moon and stars too."
Maya Shem | 21 years old, Shoham | Kidnapped from the party in Re'im
You are the only star in the sky
And not as it used to be
Today you glow
Flows through the arteries
Glitter in the distance
Forever bright
(Assaf Amdursky)
On Keren Scharf-Shem's hand is tattooed the song "Kochav" by Assaf Amdursky - like the tattoo on the shoulder of her daughter, Maya Shem, who was kidnapped to Gaza from the party in Re'im on Black Saturday.
"These are words that have a lot of meaning for us," Keren says of the tattoo the two of them got together two years ago. It symbolizes things we went through together. Right now what I have is to lift my head and look at the sky, and hope that Mia sees sky, moon and stars too. I put this song out loud and pray."
Karen says she and her daughter share a love of tattoos: "Mia has a lot of tattoos, including one with the words 'Mommy.' She did the first one when she was 14, and I'm already thinking about the tattoo we'll get when she comes back to us. We already have a sketch – we'll do it for the whole family together."
Keren, Mia's mother, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Despite the optimism, Karen is afraid. A few days after Maya's abduction, the Hamas terrorist organization released an edited video in which she appears to have injured her hand, says she underwent surgery and received medical treatment, and asks that she be returned home to her family as soon as possible.
"That was the only and last time we heard from her," the mother says. "I'm very worried about her condition, partly because I only saw her upper body, and she reported to an acquaintance that she had been shot in the leg. It's uncertainty at a level where it's hard for me to breathe. It's a situation where your child is in a hostile place, where people are shelling around, and I don't know if she's eating or what her mental state is."
Keren wants to convey a message: "We must not stop. Everything must be done so that the abductees are released, not just parents, siblings or grandparents – everyone must continue until the abductees are at home. These are the children of all of us."
"The first thing we'll do when Almog comes back is watch a movie together."
Almog Meir-Jan | 21 years old, Or Yehuda | Kidnapped from the party in bad guys
Almog Meir-Jan, 21, is a lover of clothes, brands and shoes. At his home in Or Yehuda, alongside his family, there are also quite a few items of clothing and fashion that remind him and that he loves so much. "Almog really likes clothes and shoes," says his sister Tide Algarbeli. "The items, shoes, hats, shirts, everything is here at home and we're just waiting for it to arrive. He likes to order clothes online and always dresses nicely. When I see the colorful shoes, I think of him."
Tides and coral have spent a lot of time together over the past year. She was on maternity leave and he had just finished his military service. "We'd meet at Mom's house, have lunch together, watch all the movies we grew up on, really love Disney movies. The first thing we will do when he returns is to be with the family and watch a movie together. Almog is a very family-oriented type."
Tide, Almog's sister, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
On Friday, Almog went to the Nuba party in Kibbutz Reim, on Saturday morning he called his mother Orit and reported that there were explosions and shootings, that the party had closed, and said that he loved her. In the afternoon, the family came across a video showing him with his hands on his face, frightened and frightened, with four other young men, apparently held captive in Gaza.
This is the last sign of life the family has from Almog, and since then it has been doing everything it can to save it. Orit flew on a delegation to Athens to meet with leaders and the Jewish community. His sister is proud: "We must bring the abductees home as soon as possible, safe and sound. We try to remain optimistic, even Almog himself is an optimistic guy who always looks on the better side. We are together and we are strong, and the fact that the people of Israel are united and supports us also helps."
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