Families of the more than 200 people whom the Israeli military says were taken hostage by Hamas militants are holding out hope after the news that two hostages have been released.
But nearly two weeks after their loved ones were abducted during the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, family members of those abducted are left struggling with thoughts of what they might be enduring and how to explain to young children what happened to their parents.
Here are some of their stories.
Judith and Natalie RaananJudith and Natalie Raanan, an American woman and her teenage daughter, have been released and are being reunited with family. It was the first such hostage release.
In this undated photo provided by Rabbi Meir Hecht on behalf of the Raanan family is Judith Raanan, left, and her daughter Natalie, 17, after Natalie’s recent high school graduation. (Raanan Family via AP)
Before the release was announced Friday, Natalie Raanan’s brother, Ben, described her as a typical 17-year-old: she loves art, makeup, fashion, and DoorDash — “she hates eating at home.”
She graduated from high school in the Chicago suburbs this year and has a birthday coming up, according to her brother, who is 34 and based in Denver.
Before she left with her mother, Judith Raanan, on a trip to Israel to celebrate her grandmother’s 85th birthday and the Jewish holidays, the teen was deciding between going to college to study interior or fashion design and taking an apprenticeship with a tattoo shop.
The pair had been sending updates as the trip progressed and were enjoying “this really special mom and daughter time together,” said their rabbi, Meir Hecht.
Natalie is “just a very loving, kind person,” Ben Raanan said. Their middle brother, Adam, is nonverbal and much older than she is, but Natalie makes it a priority to maintain a strong bond with him, he explained.
Judith Raanan was very active in her faith community, Chabad of Evanston, said her friend and the rabbi’s wife, Yehudis Hecht. Judith came to Shabbat almost every week, helped prepare the Kiddush lunch, and just before she left for Israel she dropped off a pink prayer book for the Hechts’ 7-year-old daughter, who loves the color, said Yehudis Hecht.
— Claire Savage
Omer NeutraA small forest of candles melted into the chocolate icing of a birthday cake in New York’s Long Island last week, but the guest of honor wasn’t there.
Omer Neutra, a dual U.S.-Israel citizen and an Israeli army soldier taken hostage during Hamas’ deadly siege on Oct. 7, is shown in this 2015 photo during a family vacation in Arizona. (Neutra family via AP)
Omer Neutra, an Israeli soldier, turned 22 seven days after Hamas ′ attack on Israel on Oct. 7. Israeli officials told his parents that Hamas took Neutra and his unit hostage, Orna and Ronen Neutra said in a telephone interview. They were told he was seen on video footage released by Hamas.
At their home in the U.S. on Oct. 14, the family took a break from doing what they can to secure Omer’s release by celebrating his birthday. They did not blow out the candle flames, because, they said, Omer wasn’t there to do so.
The scene is a glimpse of the difficult limbo in which the Neutras find themselves as they and the families of more than 200 other Israeli hostages — and dozens more people who remain missing — await word on their loved ones’ fates, with hope.
“Omer is tough,” said his dad, Ronen. “We feel that he is well.”
Omer Neutra was born in Manhattan a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the son of Israeli-born parents. Also a dual citizen, he attended a conservative Jewish school and “knew all of the statistics of the New York Knicks,” Ronen said.
He lists Omer’s leadership positions as captain of the basketball, soccer and volleyball teams at the Schechter School of Long Island, as well as a regional president of United Synagogue Youth. Omer, Ronen said, was offered admission to the State University of New York at Binghamton — but instead deferred, took a gap year and then moved to Israel to join the army.
The Neutras last spoke to their son on Oct. 6, the night before the incursion, as he patrolled the Gaza border. Omer was looking forward to Shabbat, which on that weekend was also the start of a weeklong celebration of the harvest season in Israel.
“He was tired — motivated but tired — after a few weeks of lots of action on the border,” Ronen said. “He was hoping for a peaceful weekend to relax a little bit.”
__Laurie Kellman
Haran familyFor days after the brutal Hamas attack, Shaked Haran sought any clues she could about the fate of her missing parents, sister, little niece and nephew, two aunts, an uncle, a cousin — 10 family members in all, spanning three generations.
In this undated photo provided by Rachel Gur, Avshalom Haran and Shoshan Haran, residents of Kibbutz Be’eri, pose together. (Rachel Gur via AP)
There were strong signs that at least some had been taken hostage. Her parents’ house at Kibbutz Be’eri was burned but the shelter was intact and there were no bodies found in it. Phone locations were tracked to Gaza. Haran’s brother-in-law had been seen being put in a Hamas car. And after a friend called the father’s phone more than 100 times, someone finally answered in Arabic and then referred in Hebrew to a hostage situation.
If captivity was a terrible outcome, the alternative would be worse.
But earlier this week, Haran, a 34-year-old attorney who grew up on the kibbutz but now lives in Beersheba, got the devastating news that the body of her father, Avshalom Haran, had been identified — he’d died in the terrible violence at Be’eri. The news came shortly after her uncle, Eviatar Kipnis, had also been confirmed dead.
Now, Haran can only pray her other relatives are alive — and tell the world their stories. They include her mother, Shoshan, a longtime social activist who founded the nonprofit Fair Planet, which works to fight food insecurity in the developing world by helping farmers.
“She’s really dedicated her time to this, trying to get as many people out of the poverty cycle as possible,” Haran said, adding that her family had been committed to peace, with many active in peace organizations, and raised her “to think about the person on the other side of the situation.”
This undated photo provided by Rachel Gur shows Naveh Shoham and Yahel Shoham, ages 8 and 3. (Rachel Gur via AP)
Also missing: Haran’s sister, Adi, a psychologist; her husband Tal and their children Naveh, 8, “a bright, open-hearted boy that makes friends in an instant,” and Yahel, 3, “creative and full of life.” Also believed abducted are Haran’s aunt, Sharon, her 12-year-old daughter, Noam, and another aunt, Lilach Kipnis.
Asked if she has a message on behalf of her family, Haran preferred to speak about all the hostages and victims.
“I love my family, but they’re one small story in this huge catastrophe,” Haran said. “They’d want the message to be that they’re part of the family of the kibbutz – and the family of Israel.”
__ Jocelyn Noveck
