Israel girl's final message in family Whatsapp chat before disappearing during Hamas abductions
An Israeli woman has revealed the heartbreaking message left by her teenage sister in a family WhatsApp group before she disappeared amid fears she was taken by militant Hamas gunmen along with her little brother.
Gaya Kalderon, 21, said she had “no tears left” after her father, sister, brother, grandmother and cousin went missing on Saturday from their homes in Nir Oz kibbutz.
It came on the day Hamas sent fighters across the border of Gaza and fired thousands of rockets into Israel.
In retaliation, Israel sealed the Gaza Strip off from food, fuel, and other supplies as the death toll rose to nearly 1,600 on both sides.
Kalderon, speaking to the Reuters news agency from Tel Aviv, revealed how she was woken by sirens on Saturday morning and called her family to ask if they were okay – and they told her they were not and did not know what was happening.
In a WhatsApp family chat, Kalderon’s 16-year-old younger sister then wrote: "Mom I love you."
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Kalderon said: "I knew it is probably because she knows it is the end or something.”
Video emerged on social media, which has so far not been independently verified, showing what Kalderon says is her younger brother Erez, 12, being taken away by gunmen.
She said: “He's hurting, they're hurting him here, it was so hard to watch… I don't even have tears anymore in my eyes, I can't cry because I cried so much."
"He had his pyjamas on, he just woke up in the middle of the night and someone came and took him."
‘I tried to protect them’
Kalderon said that her siblings being taken had now made her feel helpless.
She added: “My sister and brother – I tried to protect them my whole life and now I can’t do it.”
Kalderon said that in the video Erez did not appear to have blood on him, which gave her hope that he was alive and the family were all together.
Her brother and sister were in a house with their father, while her grandmother and cousin were in a separate house.
The whereabouts of all five is unknown.
Her mother and elder brother were in another house and survived.
Outrage over Hamas massacre
The international community has largely condemned the attacks by Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said this week that Hamas fighters were holding as many as 150 people hostage in locations across Gaza following the weekend raids.
Abu Obaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, said the group would start executing civilian hostages if Israel targets Palestinians without warning in retaliatory strikes.
On Tuesday, reports suggested that dozens of babies had been found dead in an Israeli kibbutz just outside of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas says its escalation of attacks are in response to the ongoing blockade of Gaza and the “Israeli occupation”, according to Mohammed Deif, the leader of the group’s military wing.
Deif said: “We’ve decided to say enough is enough… This is the day of the greatest battle and the last occupation on earth.”
Watch: 'I have no tears left'
