Families of Americans slain or missing in Israel plead for answers: 'We are people'

After hearing sirens blaring throughout her Jerusalem neighborhood Saturday morning, Rachel Goldberg knew she needed to check on her adult son, Hersh, who had been camping at a desert rave with a friend. As Goldberg fumbled to turn on her phone, two text messages suddenly appeared from him: “I love you” and “I’m sorry.”

Both messages were sent at 8:11 that morning and Goldberg said she hasn’t heard from him since. Soon after, Goldberg found out that Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched a devastating surprise attack that morning, slaughtering hundreds of innocent partygoers at the outdoor Israeli music festival.

Hersh, who turned 23 last week and was born in California before moving to Israel at 7, was at the festival. Goldberg heard from an eyewitness that her son had his arm blown off from the elbow down and was taken hostage by Hamas militants. Police told Goldberg that her son’s last phone ping came from near the Gaza border. The family is hoping that he is still alive, but thus far, they haven’t gotten any updates.

“[He’s] our only son,” Goldberg said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference at the Carlton Hotel in Tel Aviv. She sat alongside her husband and three other families of Americans that remain missing more than three days after the Saturday morning attack, all of them pleading for updates or information about a plan of action by officials to rescue their family members.

“All we ask from the Biden administration and the Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken is to act for the immediate release of all hostages and remember that the U.S. government has direct responsibility to the lives of U.S. citizens that are held hostage by these terrorists,” said Nahar Neta, whose 66-year-old California-born mother, Adrienne Neta, was also taken by Hamas. “Do whatever any government needs to do to make that happen, please make that happen.”

‘Desperate, angry and broken’

Anchors from CNN, who broadcast the emotional presser, described the families as “desperate, angry and broken,” so distraught that they are begging for help. So far, the families said they have had “zero communication” from either the Israeli government or the U.S. government.

The State Department has designated Hamas a terrorist organization. Hamas has said it was motivated to launch the attack over anger that’s been built up over decades of Israeli policy, including the treatment of Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements.

According to the Israeli Embassy in the U.S., more than 1,000 people were killed in the weekend massacre and at least 3,418 were injured. At least 14 U.S. citizens were among those killed, with many others that remain unaccounted for.

Those missing include three volunteers from ELEM, an NGO in Israel serving youth in distress. Tragically, the group was onsite at the music festival Saturday to provide assistance to youth under the influence of drugs and those experiencing emotional distress.

“We’re praying for the safety of everyone in Israel,” a statement posted to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, from the organization read.

President Biden on Monday said it is likely that some Americans are among those being held hostage by Hamas.

New York-born Rubi Chen, whose son Itay, a U.S.-Israeli dual citizen, has also been missing since Saturday, pleaded with government officials in Israel and the U.S. to do what it takes to bring their loved ones back home safely.

“Think of us not as a headline,” Chen said. “We are people.”

‘We are fighting human animals’

Saturday’s attack marked the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a three-week conflict that began as a surprise attack on Israel by Egypt and Syria and claimed the lives of more than 2,600 Israeli soldiers in an eventual victory for Israel.

In response to this weekend’s ambush, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas, with Israeli officials calling for a complete siege of Gaza after launching several airstrikes from land and sea into the strip, an area of 140 square miles, from which the 2.3 million people who live there are unable to flee. At least 200,000 civilians have been displaced and eight healthcare facilities have been damaged in Gaza since Saturday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday.

“There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. “We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly.”

‘It’s just running for your death’

Jerusalem resident Gaya Kalderon last heard from her family just before 9 a.m. Saturday morning. Already fearing the worst, it wasn’t until the following day that she saw a video on social media that appeared to show an Israeli child being shoved down a path by Hamas militants. As she looked closer to the video she realized she knew the child.

“I am looking on Instagram, and I see a video,” Kalderon told the New York Times. “And it’s my brother.”

Her brother and four other members of Kalderon’s family are feared to be among an estimated 150 Israelis who’ve been taken captive by Hamas. The hostages include young and elderly people, soldiers and civilians that were stripped from their homes, jobs or anywhere that Hamas could take them.

Noa Kalash, who survived the Hamas attack at the music festival by hiding in a bush with her boyfriend for eight hours, told the Associated Press that she’s still unsure how many friends she lost.

“I started seeing things in the sky, just hearing bombs,” Kalash said. “[My boyfriend] told me there’s no way we’re running with them. It’s just running for your death. They’re going to shoot at us. All of us. He takes my hand, he takes me back and we get into the first bush we saw.”

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