Some of the more than 100 hostages Hamas is still holding from its Oct. 7 attack on Israel have connections with people who live in the Philadelphia area.
Those locals are working tirelessly to bring them home.
As one put it, “We’re exhausted. But the people sitting in tunnels in Gaza are much more exhausted.”
Two of those locals — Noga Senderowitsch of Bala Cynwyd and Danielle Gutman of Wynnewood — spoke about their efforts.
Senderowitsch’s family, which owns Nana’s Kitchen in Narberth, is friends with Yair and Eitan Horn, brothers who were kidnapped on Oct. 7. Yair Horn lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz near the border with Gaza. His brother was visiting when the attack happened.
Gutman’s sister-in-law’s cousin is Ohad Yahalomi, a 49-year-old who was also kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Yahalomi tried to fight off the terrorists during a gun battle. He was still captured along with his son, Eitan. His wife Bat-Sheva and their two daughters escaped when the motorcycle they were being carried on crashed.
What do they know?
Senderowitsch is at least confident that the Horn brothers are alive. She heard from the hostages who were released in November that the Horns were separated early on and put into different groups.
“Other than that, we don’t know a thing,” she said.
Gutman is aware that Yahalomi’s son Eitan was released in November. As for Ohad Yahalomi, Hamas released a video of him speaking and then said he was dead. But there’s been no proof of that, and there usually is when hostages die, according to Gutman.
The Israel Defense Forces have not confirmed Yahalomi’s death.
What are they trying to do to bring them home?
As Gutman explained, “as regular people, we don’t have much power in trying to find out things.”
“The only thing we can do is try to keep them on the agenda,” she added.
Gutman and Senderowitsch have spoken to journalists, politicians and the Jewish Community Relations Council within the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Among local politicians, they have talked to U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman and U.S. Reps. Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon and Brian Fitzpatrick. They also met with state Sen. Sharif Street of Philadelphia.
“We advocate for a deal as much as we can,” Gutman said.
“We’re keeping them at the forefront of the news as much as we can,” Senderowitsch said. “We know that they’re there and that we can’t move on with our lives as usual and forget them.”
What can people reading this do to help?
About as much as Senderowitsch and Gutman are doing.
“This is the least we can do and, unfortunately, not much more than this,” Senderowitsch said.
“We just ask that people think about what they can personally do. Share things on social media about the hostages. Ask for a deal. Demand a deal. Bring awareness as much as possible. Use whatever power you have to bring awareness,” she continued.
“We are mere citizens in a complex situation. The only way this will happen is a collective demand of our representatives: to put that at the forefront of their agenda until they all come home,” she concluded.
