“I only know that my daughter is still alive”; one month after Hamas' invasion of Israel
At 9:25 on October 7, Benito Gritzewsky, Ilana's father, lost contact with his daughter.
Since that day, the Mexican citizen remains a hostage of the Hamas terrorist group, as part of a group of 241 people, according to Israel's count.
“Until now the only thing we have heard, thank God, is that he is alive. We don't know anything about the rest since the attack on October 7th,” said Benito in an interview with Pascal Beltrán del Río for Imagen Multicast.
On October 7, the terrorist group Hamas invaded Israel by air, sea and land.
In addition, the radicals took hostages and destroyed communities.
“It was a massacre,” Benito said. who is in Israel.
Ilana lives in the Nir Oz kibbutz, whose inhabitants were massacred.
“We don't really know anything about her, there is no contact with her,” he added.
She. along with Orion Hernández, are in captivity within the Palestinian enclave.
She loves baking, it is her biggest hobby, Benito said.
Yesterday, at a press conference, the Israeli ambassador to Mexico, Einat Kranz-Neiger, detailed information about the group of detainees.
“We understand that they are not together,” he explained at the embassy headquarters.
“Liberation is one of the objectives of the offensive in Gaza. It is not the objective,” stressed the diplomat Kranz-Neiger.
Ilana, her father said, had just returned to Israel after a trip to Mexico, where she traveled due to the death of her uncle.
He arrived in Israel on October 2, five days before the invasion.
“I couldn't see her when she returned and the worst thing is that I still haven't seen her,” he said.
With information from Verónica Mondragón
- 241 people remain hostage in the Gaza Strip.
- 30 children were kidnapped in the offensive a month ago in Israel.
- 3 thousand members of terrorist groups invaded by air, sea and land.
- 30 communities in Israel were infiltrated by radicals on October 7.
Captive Mexicans experience 31 days of anguish
Mexican citizens Ilana Gritzewsky and Orion Hernández were taken hostage in the Hamas terrorist invasion of Israel, perpetrated a month ago.
Since last October 7, both are part of the group of 241 people, in which there are Israelis and foreigners, who remain kidnapped somewhere within the Gaza Strip.
From the Editorial
Ilana Gritzewsky Camhi
- On October 7, the Mexican citizen was with her boyfriend Matan and Nuni, the couple's dog, when she was kidnapped by Hamas near the Gaza Strip.
- Gritzewsky lives in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where dozens of residents were murdered, homes looted and vandalized.
- The woman, 30 years old, is fond of baking.
Orion Hernandez Radoux
- The Mexican citizen is the partner of the German tattoo artist Shani Louk, who died, as confirmed by her family.
- Both attended the Nova music festival, where attendees were kidnapped and at least 260 people were murdered.
- Originally from Morelos, he is a cultural promoter.
- On his social networks, he identifies himself as Orion ChirrisWow and appears with a baby.
“MY nephew is going to come back alive”
Ricardo narrated to Excelsior the day his nephew was kidnapped.
by Verónica Mondragón
Omer Wenkert is 22 years old, he plans to study gastronomy and is the most loved of his group of friends.
Last October 7, Omer and his friend Kim were together with five thousand people at the Nova electronic music festival in southern Israel.
At 6:30 in the morning, a group of Hamas terrorists broke into the event, shooting, throwing grenades and kidnapping civilians.
Omer was kidnapped by Hamas, his friend did not survive.
Hours before that, the 22-year-old contacted his family.
He sent them photos and told them that he was going to the concert held about two kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
“At 6:30 in the morning he called his father, told him that he was hearing gunshots, that he was afraid,” he told Excelsior Ricardo Gritchener, Omer's uncle.
An hour later he said that he was in a closed place, with 30 people, that he is afraid, that he is hearing Arabic, that terrorists entered and threw grenades into the closed place.
“He didn't die, but his friend did,” said Ricardo, who is of Argentine origin.
Omer and Ricardo are very close, they live together all the time.
His wife is the mother of the current hostage and both have a relationship of closeness and love.
“We are always in contact, we are like brothers and sisters. “My nephew is like a son,” she said.
Currently, Ricardo is in Tel Aviv with his nephew's parents and the families of the other captives.
“Every day is complicated, the parents cry, they do what they can, we are very sad and we don't know what to do. We help each other, but the truth is we can't do much,” she said.
The young man requires treatment for colitis. His family accused that Hamas does not want to receive him.
“The terrorists do not want to do anything deal (agreement),” he said.
Omer wants to dedicate himself to the restaurant industry, he has never been linked to any attacks against Palestinian groups.
“He is a civilian, he did no harm to anyone, no attacks. He was only with five thousand people at a concert. “They were there dancing at a music festival,” he said.
According to the Israeli army, 260 bodies were found at the festival site.
“And it's going to come back, it's going to come back. We know he is going to come back alive,” Ricardo said.
He spent 180 minutes in gunfights with terrorist hordes
by Verónica Mondragón
At 6:30 in the morning, Yarden Raskin began hearing gunshots and explosions.
It was a group of Hamas terrorists who wanted to enter Kibbutz Mefalsim, one kilometer from the border with the Gaza Strip.
Raskin is part of the civilian force that is part of Israel's settlements.
“The head of security called us all saying that there were gunshots at the large gate of the kibbutz,” he explained to Excélsior.
“At that moment I left my house after kissing my wife and two little girls,” he added.
As he approached the gate he saw 15 terrorists laughing and high-fiving.
The security force of the community in which about a thousand people live was already in combat with the terrorists who entered Israeli territory by land.
They spent hours shooting in order to repel the attackers.
“Then they tried to enter through another gate but another friend arrived and shot them,” he added.
The father of the family spent more than 180 minutes in the middle of the exchange of shots between the citizens and the radicals.
“Later, at 9:30 another group tried to enter through another gate to the south,” he added.
“That was also met with shots from three other members of our group,” he explained.
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