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Bring them home: Presenting the stories of the Oct. 7 hostages

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On Oct. 7, 2023, our world changed forever. As families in southern Israel celebrated the joyous holiday of Simchat Torah, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, unleashing a brutal attack that left over 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage, nearly all civilians. It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Nine months later, 120 hostages remain in captivity, including eight US citizens. These are our neighbors, colleagues and friends. They are children torn from their parents, grandparents separated from their families and foreign nationals who came to Israel as workers or tourists. Some of these hostages, we now know, were murdered by Hamas – yet their bodies are still being held, denying their loved ones even the basic dignity of burial and mourning.

We bring you their stories. We plan to profile many of the 120 remaining individuals being held by Hamas in Gaza – though we dearly hope they will all come home now, rendering this project unnecessary. Until then, you will learn about their lives, their dreams and the families anxiously awaiting their return. We begin with the American hostages, including Itay Chen, Edan Alexander and Omer Neutra, young men whose futures were brutally interrupted.

This isn’t just news – it’s a call to our shared humanity. As you read these profiles, we urge you to remember that each hostage is someone’s parent, spouse or child. They range from 84 years old to one year young. Their absence leaves a void in countless lives.

We’re not here to tell you what to think or how to feel. We simply ask that you read, reflect and remember. Share these stories if they move you. Speak out if you feel compelled. In a world that often moves too quickly from one crisis to the next, we believe these individuals deserve to be more than just a fading headline.

Time is running out for those still held captive. Through these 120 stories, we hope to keep their plight in the forefront of our community’s consciousness. Because until every hostage is home, a part of all of us remains captive too.

Thank you for joining us on this journey of remembrance and hope.

Edan Alexander | Foodie with Intense Courage

Edan AlexanderHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen | IDF Soldier

Meet Edan: Edan Alexander, 20, grew up in Tenafly, NJ – described by his father Adi as “a great all-American kid.” The family’s oldest child, Edan is beloved by his siblings, who look up to him greatly, and by his parents, who adore him. His mother Yael said that growing up he was “his sister’s best friend.”

In Tenafly High School, Edan thrived in and out of class, had scores of friends and won a pile of awards from his victories with the school swim team. He’s also always been a huge foodie, obsessed with Thai and Japanese cuisine.

While he initially planned to go to college and study business, when he graduated high school, Edan felt a higher calling to join the Israel Defense Forces and protect the Jewish State. His parents relate how Edan joined the IDF as a lone soldier since “he felt it was the right thing to do.” He was placed in the Golani Bridage’s 51st battalion, stationed near Israel’s border with Gaza.

Oct. 7 and Beyond: On the morning of Oct. 7, Edan’s mother, who was visiting Israel at the time, anxiously began texting her son at 6:30 a.m. when she first heard reports of the Hamas terror invasion from Gaza. While Edan tried to reassure her that he was safe, she could tell that his position was under attack. Their texts that morning were the last contact they had.

By 7 a.m., Edan was no longer answering his mother’s flurry of texts, and a week later the IDF informed the family that Edan had been taken hostage by Hamas. They have had no news or updates on his whereabouts or condition since.

Message from the Family: “We love him, and we can’t wait to give him a hug − a big bearhug!” his mother said. “We can’t wait for him to come back home. And he will come back home.”

The Alexander family called on the people of New York to keep fighting for all the hostages’ release, especially Edan and the seven other American hostages who still remain in Hamas captivity.

Sagui Dekel-Chen | Heroic Father and Countryman

Sagui Dekel-ChenHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen | Project Manager

Meet Sagui: Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, is a beloved husband, and father to three daughters. Born to American parents Jonathan and Neomit, Sagui was raised in Bloomfield, NJ for the first ten years of his life. At that point, his family moved to Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel. When Sagui was 14, he met the love of his life, Avital – known affectionately as Mili after the Israeli actress Mili Avital – who he would eventually marry.

Sagui is highly motivated and sharp as a whip. By day, he worked as a project manager for the the Jewish National Fund’s UK branch – helping construct schools and public parks for underserved communities. After hours, he led more social initiatives to further develop the Jewish state. Friends recount that Sagui’s biggest life goal was “the flourishing of the Jewish people.” And despite working late nights on all his projects, Sagui still managed to be an incredible father to his two daughters and spouse his wife Avital, who was pregnant with their third child when the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, October 7th, 2023, arrived.

Oct. 7 and Beyond: In the early hours of Oct. 7, characteristically hard-working Sagui was up laboring in the kibbutz’s machine shop when he spotted Hamas terrorists breaching the kibbutz. He sprinted to the communal dining room and raised the alarm, sending to lockdown in their safe rooms. This action saved countless lives. And after checking to make sure his pregnant wife and young daughters were safe, Sagui ventured back outside to fend off the invaders with the rest of the kibbutz security team.

After hours of fighting, including gristly hand-to-hand combat precariously close to his wife Avital, Sagui was last heard from at 9:30 a.m., three-odd hours after the terrorist invasion. The courageous defender was carted off by Hamas to Gaza, where he is still being held hostage.

With Sagui still in captivity, Avital gave birth to their third daughter, Shachar. She has yet to meet her father.

Message From the Family: “Her name is Shachar, which in Hebrew means Dawn. She’s the brightest light in our horrific darkness right now,” said Gillian Kaye, Sagui’s stepmother. Sagui’s wife Avital added unequivocally: “This baby is here thanks to him. He protected us, so it happens thanks to him.”

The family calls on all New Yorkers to keep fighting for Sagui – one of eight American hostages still being held in Gaza – and for all the remaining hostages to be freed and swiftly reunited with their families.

Judy Weinstein | Teacher Spreading Calm and Mindfulness

Judy WeinsteinHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen | Schoolteacher

Meet Judy: Judith (Judy) Weinstein, 70, was born in Monroe, NY to Brooklynite parents. Her mother is still alive at 95. Described by her family as “deeply connected to her inner self,” Judy was “always smiling and bringing calm to those around her.” She moved to Israel when she was young, and settled in Kibbutz Nir Oz with her husband Gadi Haggai. There, they raised a beautiful family of four children, which would eventually blossom with seven grandchildren.

Judy was an English teacher at the local high school and taught children with special needs. In addition, she taught meditation to help treat the anxiety experienced by vast amounts of the kibbutz’s children, due to years of incessant rocket attacks from neighboring Gaza. Judy impacted thousands of students’ lives for the better, and was always trying to bring more peace and coexistence into the world.

Oct. 7 and Beyond: On the morning of Oct. 7, Judy and Gadi were on their morning walk around the kibbutz when Hamas terrorists invaded the area, shattering the calm. In her last-ever contact with her family, Judy shared a 40-second video of her and Gadi hiding in a ditch near the kibbutz. In the background, the kibbutz alarm system blared, warning its citizens of incoming attacks, and the terrorists’ gunfire was getting closer and closer. Kibbutz Nir Oz was devastated, with a quarter of its inhabitants murdered or abducted that day by Hamas.

Kibbutz Nir Oz was one of the hardest hit communities on Oct. 7, with a quarter of townsfolk killed or taken hostage by Hamas on that day. After months of uncertainty regarding the couple’s fate, the IDF confirmed that Hamas killed both Gad and Judy on Oct. 7, and carted their bodies to Gaza as hostages.

Message from the Family: “There is nothing more monstrous than abducting a body and not letting us, their children, their grandchildren, our grandmother – our mother’s mother – find closure,” said Judy’s children. “We are stuck. We cannot move on with our lives until her body is returned.”

The family calls on New Yorkers to “fight for justice as we Americans know how to do, fight against terror, do not let terror take over this amazing country, this amazing city.”

Gad Haggai | Jazz Artist Devoted to His Family and Health

Gad HaggaiHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen | Musician & Chef

Meet Gad: “Live your life as if it’s your last day, but learn as if you’ll live forever.”

This was Gad Haggai’s last Facebook post, published to his feed on Oct. 6, and it summed up his 73 years of life in a tragic but beautiful way. Born to American parents from Brooklyn and Detroit, Gad loved music from his earliest years. He learned the flute when he was just three years old, and went on to play saxophone at Jazz clubs across 1970s New York City. He was a member of the band Jazz Covenant, and played alongside genre greats like B.B. King.

After losing his brother to cancer in the early 2000s, Gad turned hugely passionate about health and nutrition, becoming a vegan chef and immersing himself in a plant-based lifestyle. Family members describe Gad as “incredibly funny” and charming, but also serious about equality and social justice. He lived on Kibbutz Nir Oz with his American-Israeli wife Judy, where they had four children and seven grandchildren. Lauded as a wonderful father and grandfather, he gave his family everything, and instilled within them a rock-solid moral compass.

Oct. 7 and Beyond: On the morning of Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists invaded Gad and Judy’s idyllic kibbutz community. The couple were on a morning walk at the time; the last thing their family has to remember them is a 40-second video of the couple hiding from roving terrorists in a ditch just outside the Kibbutz.

Message From the Family: “We must do everything to bring them back for a respectful burial. We deserve a grave, and they deserve to rest in peace at home” Gad and Judy’s family cry to the world. They call on New Yorkers “not to forget that there are eight American hostages, including our two parents” still being held in Gaza, and to fight relentlessly for their immediate release.

Itay Chen | A natural leader with an unforgettable smile

Itay ChenHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen | IDF Soldier

Meet Itay: Itay Chen, 19, was born in the Israeli city of Netanya to New York natives Ruby and Hagit. Friends described him as a “pure soul” and natural-born leader – with an infectious smile, and a heart always open to helping others. At 17, Itay met Neta, who became his girlfriend, while working as a youth counselor at summer camp. He called her the love of his life.

Itay loved hamburgers, late-night pizza and reality TV. He and Neta dreamed of going to college in America after he completed his army service.

October 7th and Beyond: Itay’s unit was among the first to encounter the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, 2023; he was last heard from at 6:40 a.m. that morning. After 158 agonizing days of uncertainty, on March 12, 2024, the IDF confirmed Itay had been killed by Hamas. The terror group continues to hold his body hostage, denying his family the closure and dignity of a proper burial.

Message from the Family: “Itay’s hugs could make the world right,” his parents shared. “Now, there’s a hole in our hearts where his laughter used to be.”

Ruby, Itay’s father, appeals to fellow New Yorkers: “On 9/11, New York showed the world how to unite in crisis. Today, I ask you to stand with us, to help bring my son – one of your own – home.”

Hersh Goldberg-Polin | Peace-Loving World Traveler

Hersh Goldberg-PolinHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen

Meet Hersh: Hersh Goldberg-Polin has friends all over the world. No, really: at only 23 years old, he’s visited scores of countries, and is described by all as a fun, calming presence even across language and cultural barriers. Born in California to American parents Rachel and Jon, he grew up there and in Virginia before moving with his family to Israel at age seven.

He is a world traveler who loves hiking, reading, befriending strangers and dancing at music festivals. He loves soccer, rooting for Hapoel Jerusalem, and channeled that passion toward meaningful goals, developing an initiative to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through the power of the sport.

October 7th and Beyond: As part of his birthday celebrations – he turned 23 just four days earlier – Hersh attended the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, Israel. As he and thousands of other partygoers danced amid the Oct. 7, 2023 sunrise, thousands of Hamas terrorists streamed into Israel and began massacring the dancers.

Hersh and others ran madly to hide in a bomb shelter, but Hamas found them and began barbarically throwing grenades inside. At around 8 a.m., Hersh sent a text message to his family: “I love you,” followed by: “I’m sorry.” According to video footage taken by the terrorists themselves, he was then abducted by a swarm of Hamas members. His left arm is largely blown off; a young woman who was in the shelter with him testified that he had risked himself to throw the grenades out. In the process, he lost most of his dominant arm.

On April 24, Hamas released a three-minute video of Hersh in captivity.

Message from the Family: “What we miss most about Hersh is just his uplifting presence,” his parents related. “We miss his presence every second of every day.”

Omer Neutra | Fanatic Knicks Fan from Long Island

Omer NeutraHostages and Missing Families Forum

Dual US-Israeli Citizen | IDF Soldier

Meet Omer: Omer Neutra, 22, was born in Plainview, NY to American-Israeli parents Orna and Ronen. Described as “instantly lighting up a room” with his friendliness and compassion, Omer is also a sports fan and athlete: obsessed with the Knicks, and playing soccer, basketball and volleyball in high school.

After high school, Omer was accepted to Binghamton University, but decided to take a gap year and study in Israel. Immersing himself in Israeli culture, Omer developed a love for Israel and its history. And as a descendant of Holocaust survivors, he felt compelled to give back to the Jewish people and the Jewish state. With destiny on his shoulders, he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier.

October 7th and Beyond: When Hamas invaded, Omer was stationed near Gaza with the mission of protecting the border communities. He was last heard from on Oct. 6, when, in a phone conversation with his parents, he described his hope for a relaxing weekend after a stressful month of service. The very next morning, he was one of the first responders to the terror onslaught, already in his tank when hundreds of Hamas missiles began raining down on Israeli villages.

Hamas fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Omer’s tank, forcing him and the three young men with him out and into the open. It was an ambush; Hamas kidnapped them all to Gaza.

Message from the Family: “Our sense of time has been lost,” say Omer’s parents. “We are stuck on October 6th, in our last conversation with Omer before he was taken hostage.

They call on everyone to “wake up every morning and ask yourselves: ‘what can I do today on behalf of Omer and all of the hostages?’”