An Israeli family found out 5 relatives were likely kidnapped by Hamas after video showing one of the kids being grabbed by armed militants appeared online

• An Israeli family believes that five relatives, including three kids, have been taken hostage by Hamas militants.
• They say a video emerged online showing one of the kids being grabbed by gunmen.

An Israeli family believes that five relatives, including three children, were taken hostage by Hamas fighters amid the Palestinian militant group's attacks on Israel after seeing a video showing one of the kids being grabbed by gunmen appear online.

Devastated relatives of the missing family members are now pleading for the safe return of 80-year-old grandmother Carmela Dan, her grandchildren Erez Kalderon, 12, Sahar Kalderon, 16, and Noya Dan, 12, and the Kalderon siblings' father, Ofer Kalderon, 50.

"Bring back our family members safe and sound. The concern for their health and safety is your responsibility," Noam Dan, a relative, told Insider during an interview on Tuesday as a message to Hamas fighters.

Noam Dan, who is the niece of Carmela Dan, stressed that her relatives "have to live, must return, and recover."

The now-missing family members were in two separate homes in the hard-hit southern Israeli village of Nir Oz near the Gaza border when Hamas, the militant authority within the Gaza Strip, launched the deadly large-scale surprise attacks on Israel early Saturday.

The Kalderon children's mother was alone in another home in the same village when Hamas fighters stormed her residence, spraying bullets, according to family friend Sabrina Belhassen-Nimtzovitch, who is also acting as a spokesperson for the family.

The mother survived the terrifying assault by the militant group by locking herself inside a safe room in her home for hours.

"She spent eight hours alone in the secure room trying to close the door," Belhassen-Nimtzovitch told Insider. "For eight hours, she heard the terrorists cursing and kill people around her."

Belhassen-Nimtzovitch said that the mother last spoke to her former husband, Ofer Kalderon, who was home with their two children, Erez Kalderon and Sahar Kalderon, Saturday morning.

According to Belhassen-Nimtzovitch, the father communicated at the time that he was going to leave the safe room in his house, but his ex-wife feared he was "making a very big mistake."

"He tried to go back, but then the terrorists took him and took the two kids," said Belhassen-Nimtzovitch.

The family came to the conclusion that their five relatives were likely kidnapped after there was no sign of them in their homes and a disturbing short video showing Erez Kalderon being grabbed by armed militants emerged online.

"We want them free as soon as possible," Belhassen-Nimtzovitch said. "We are begging them not to harm them."

The assault by the Hamas militant group has already left more than 900 dead in Israel, with many more injured. The group has also kidnapped women, children, and seniors. An estimated 150 people have been taken hostage by the Hama fighters, according to a preliminary assessment shared with The New York Times by a senior Israeli military official.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Israel declared war on Hamas, launching retaliatory strikes in Gaza, where hundreds more people have been killed.

Production Fellow Alisa Shodiyev Kaff contributed translations for this article.