Those who got through the horrific attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 recount sheltering as their neighbors were murdered and trying to find missing relatives.
The savage Hamas terror attacks that targeted Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 have left countless families reeling.
Some underwent harrowing events, enduring or narrowly avoiding slaughter, while loved ones of others vanished, their status listed as missing, kidnapped, or dead.
All that many have to work with is a last cellphone contact, a call, or a text from a now-disappeared family member.
“My daughter went to a party in southern Israel on Friday night [Oct. 6],” Erez Sarfaty told the Israeli Epoch Times about her daughter Ron. “She stayed in touch with us throughout the night, updating us on what was happening with her.
“At 8:30 on Saturday morning [Oct. 7], she called us to tell us that there were shootings.
“She was with her friend. They went to the party with five friends—she, her friend, and three other friends. When she called at 8:30, she was with her friend. They told us that they were lying on the floor and hiding and that shots were being fired at them.
“Neither they nor we fully understood the gravity of the situation. We thought it was something far away from them. Her friend told me, ‘Don’t worry, tonight I will bring her back home.’
“In fact, at 8:45, that was our last communication with her. Since then, we haven’t received any information from any official source.”
Of the five, two have been confirmed as kidnapped to Gaza, and one returned home safely, while her daughter and her friend Idan Haramaty are missing, according to Ms. Sarfaty.
The friend who got home safely couldn’t tell them anything, as the group of friends had split up when the gun battles started.
Ms. Sarfaty said she headed south on Oct. 8 toward the Be’eri kibbutz to search for her daughter but was turned back by the army, as fighting was still happening in the vicinity.
“We are sitting at home, using the phone and going through, trying to find our daughter and knowing nothing,” she said.
