Current:Home > Finance'I just want her back': Israeli mom worries daughter taken hostage by Hamas militants -WealthSphere Pro
'I just want her back': Israeli mom worries daughter taken hostage by Hamas militants
View
Date:2025-04-13 14:19:04
TEL AVIV -- As Jennifer Damti sat between her two daughters in her Tel Aviv home Sunday, she was unable to hold back tears, saying she is worried sick that her youngest child was taken hostage in the surprise attack launched by Hamas militants.
Damti told ABC News her 22-year-old daughter, Kim, whom she described as having big green eyes and a huge smile, is missing, possibly one of a large crowd of desert partygoers set upon by armed men in vans and wearing balaclavas.
She said she last heard from her daughter in a phone call Saturday at 6:30 a.m. local time just as Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, indiscriminately firing thousands of missiles from Gaza into southern and central Israel, including Tel Aviv. Damti said as the militant moved in on the party Kim was attending, her daughter asked, "Mummy, what should I do?"
Damti said her son took the phone and told his sister to find shelter. Since then, they haven't heard from her.
As the missile attack was commencing, Hamas militants on motorcycles and in vehicles stormed blockaded areas of Gaza and infiltrated Israel, officials in Israel said.
Video footage emerged of Hamas terrorists shooting Israelis and taking others hostage.
The Israeli government confirmed that a number of civilians and soldiers have been taken hostage. At least 100 Israeli citizens and soldiers are being held hostage by Hamas fighters, Israel's Government Press Office said Sunday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration is trying to confirm reports that Americans are among those killed or taken captive.
As of Sunday afternoon, at least 700 people had been killed in Israel by Hamas and another 2,100 have been injured, the Israeli Health Ministry said. Israeli rescue service Zaka said at least 260 bodies were removed from the venue of the music festival in southern Israel that came under a Hamas attack.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 370 are dead and 2,200 others are injured in Gaza in retaliatory strikes by Israeli jet fighters and soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister has declared "Israel is at war."
"Kim didn’t realize seven or eight Toyota vans (were) full of terrorists,” Damti, crying, said of her daughter. "They just shot everywhere. They slaughtered them like ducks. This behavior is barbaric. I didn’t bring my children up to hate anybody. I’m asking the world to condemn this."
Damti said the family hasn’t slept since the onset of the attack as they wait by the phone for word on her daughter's fate.
She said her daughter's father and brother have been traveling from hospital to hospital with a hairbrush containing Kim's hair, hoping for a DNA match and some answers.
MORE: Timeline of surprise rocket attack by Hamas on Israel
Damti showed ABC News a photo of her missing daughter, pointing out her unique curly blond hair.
"I know my daughter, she’s a gentle loving person, who wants to make the world a better place. I don’t know if we’ll get her back," Damti said.
The thought of never seeing her daughter again prompted more tears and fears that the worst had befallen her girl.
MORE: Hamas attacks in Israel: Airlines that have suspended flights amid travel advisory
"Maybe she’s been taken as a hostage in Gaza. I don’t want to think about that. Maybe she’s hiding somewhere. She’s clever. Or maybe -- I don’t know... I don’t even want to think." she said.
Damti's other daughter, Emily, said the family has also been combing through online videos of kidnappings and killings they said were carried out by Hamas militants, looking for any sign of her sister. But Emily said their search has yet to produce "nothing.".
“You can’t sleep. All I can think about is where she is," Damti said. "If she’s suffering, if she’s still alive. I just want her back. I have three daughters. I can’t imagine my life without Kim."
ABC News' Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
veryGood! (84422)
Related
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- DeSantis, longtime opponent of state spending on stadiums, allocates $8 million for Inter Miami
- Samsung is recalling more than 1 million electric ranges after numerous fire and injury reports
- Sighting of alligator swimming off shore of Lake Erie prompts Pennsylvania search
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Older pilots with unmatchable experience are key to the US aerial firefighting fleet
- Hearing in Karen Read case expected to focus on jury deliberations
- Missouri man dies illegally BASE jumping at Grand Canyon National Park; parachute deployed
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Why Gina Gershon Almost Broke Tom Cruise's Nose Filming Cocktail Sex Scene
Ranking
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Nevada governor releases revised climate plan after lengthy delay
- Dead woman found entangled in baggage machinery at Chicago airport
- Kendall Jenner's Summer Photo Diary Features a Cheeky Bikini Shot
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Deputies shoot and kill man in southwest Georgia after they say he fired at them
- Tennis Star Rafael Nadal Shares Honest Reason He Won’t Compete at 2024 US Open
- The Beverly Hills Hotel x Stoney Clover Lane Collab Is Here—Shop Pink Travel Finds & Banana Leaf Bags
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Inside an 'ambush': Standoff with conspiracy theorists left 1 Florida deputy killed, 2 injured
USA Olympic Diver Alison Gibson Reacts to Being Labeled Embarrassing Failure After Dive Earns 0.0 Score
Why Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker Is Doubling Down on Controversial Speech Comments
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Serbian athlete dies in Texas CrossFit competition, reports say
Baby’s body found by worker at South Dakota recycling center
Paris Olympics live updates: Noah Lyles takes 200m bronze; USA men's hoops rally for win