Early in the morning last Saturday, a group of Hamas militia entered the home of Erez, a twelve-year-old boy living in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Upon forcing their way into the home, Erez — along with his sister and father — escaped through a window and ran to hide in the bushes outside. From there, Erez’s sister, Sahar, began sending panicked messages to their older sister, who was spending the weekend elsewhere with their mother.
“Oh my god, Gaia. They’re here. We’re hiding from them. We left the house,” read the last texts sent by the sixteen-year-old girl.
“At 8:30 in the morning, they were sending messages that they were in the bushes and that they were very afraid because the terrorists were very close. And that was the last time that we heard from them,” recalled Sharon, Erez’s aunt, in a conversation with the Jerusalem Post.
She and her husband, Nisan, live in a neighboring kibbutz, which was also invaded on Saturday morning. “We could hear them shooting and yelling and telling us they're here to kill us,” she said.
Hamas video shows terrorist taking Erez
They survived the day’s horrific attack; but following the radio silence from their family, their worst fears were confirmed by a video posted by Hamas later that day.
“In the video, we saw one of the terrorists taking Erez. He’s 12 years old, a sweet, sweet boy,” Sharon said. The video in question shows young Erez, standing stiffly with his head down and eyes closed, his hands stiffly held out to the sides as a man roughly grabs him from under his arms and pulls him backward. “They picked him up and took him.”
“That's the only sign that we have that he is alive,” Sharon said, pausing and correcting herself. “He was alive on Saturday noon. But that's it. We don't know anything more.”
Erez, Sahar, their father, Ofir, and more relatives are still unaccounted for. Sharon and Nisan have had no new information since Saturday. When asked if they had been in touch with the army, Sharon quietly responded. “No one is talking with us. They’re busy,” she said. “They asked us for details, but that’s it.”
The couple has been attempting to spread the word about what happened to Erez and his family, spreading a video edited by Nisan that depicts the kidnapping and talking to anyone who will listen.
'We need the world to hear'
“We're trying to tell people: please help us. Please give us a sign that they're okay. Please tell us where they are,” Sharon said. “We don't know if they're alive or dead. We don't know if they’re treating them well or maybe they're abusing them — we don't know anything, so we’re just shouting: please help us to find them.”
“We need the world to hear that Hamas took children. They took women. They took men. They took old people. They were killing everyone,” she continued.
Sharon shared more about the family. “Ofir is 52, he loves to ride his bicycle. He’s a carpenter, he makes wonderful, homemade kitchens. Sahar is an artist, she creates beautiful things. A sweet sixteen girl, she’s so beautiful,” she said.
“And Erez?” she chuckled. “Erez is an energy bomb. A very sweet, very happy boy. He loves video games,” she said, before beginning to cry. “He's my little nephew… and I really really want him home. I want him home.”
“We just want to know that they're okay. That someone is taking care of them. That no one is abusing them,” she said, sobbing. “That no one is taking their smiles away from them.”