After the major attack by Hamas, more than 200 Israelis were kidnapped – including, according to the Israeli Asher, his wife and children. In conversation with tagesschau24 he reports about the desperation – and the hope of seeing his family again.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin on Sunday at a large rally against anti-Semitism and for solidarity with Israel. Relatives of Hamas hostages also described their pain there with emphatic words – and demanded that those kidnapped be freed. Yoni Asher also spoke in Berlin – his daughters and wife were kidnapped by Hamas. Since his family also has German citizenship, he is hoping for help from the federal government.
In an interview with the tagesschau24 He reports: “I don’t know anything about the condition of the family. I don’t know for sure whether they are alive or not. There was a video on Saturday, October 7th, and I saw them being captured. Since then, the only concrete information I have is exactly this.”
“The phone call was interrupted”
He also tells Asher about the day his family was kidnapped. His family visited his mother-in-law. “I was at our house in the morning, quite far away from them. I was on the phone with my wife. She told me that they were locked in a safe room somewhere. She whispered.”
He continued, “It seemed to me that there was a big invasion and that the kidnappers came into the house. And then the phone call was cut off because we didn’t want to risk anything else. And of course we hoped that no one would find them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t reach her after that. I later saw the video that proved to me that she and my two little daughters had been kidnapped.”
Since then there has been no sign of life.
Search for “any contact, any information”
For Asher, the events were initially difficult to cope with: “Of course it broke me at that moment. I didn’t know who I was. So I was full of worry and despair.” It’s been two weeks since the kidnapping – he’s trying to somehow come to terms with the situation. and “any contact, getting any information, talking to the media.” He is trying to keep awareness of this event awake. “It’s the only thing I can do now. The only hope I have.”
“The support has been truly amazing”
Asher emphasized that he received a lot of support, “including from us in Israel and also here in Berlin.” The support was “really amazing.” This was also the case at the demonstration on Sunday in Berlin: “Many people were there and showed their support and important official people were also here.” Everyone was very attentive, Asher said, and did the best they could. “They do what I expect of them. And then my job is to keep the awareness going, to keep the conversation going.” “I want responsibility for this to be taken. And of course that also applies to the Israeli authorities and to everyone whose citizens are held captive there. Everyone must live up to their responsibility.”
The terrorist militia Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, launched a major attack on Israel on October 7th and, according to government figures, killed around 1,400 people. The heavily armed Islamists also kidnapped more than 200 people as hostages, including German citizens. In response to the attack, Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip and has since been massively attacking Hamas positions in the coastal strip from the air.