Families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas are pleading for their release and say they have no idea how their relatives are doing

• Hamas, the group that controls Gaza, took dozens of Israelis hostage, Israeli officials said.
• It's unclear precisely how many hostages were taken and what their condition may be.

When Hamas militants crossed into Israel on Saturday morning in the opening series of attacks that a unleashed war that has claimed hundreds of lives in both Israel and Gaza, they targeted Israeli citizens as hostages. More than 100 were taken back to Gaza as captives, the Israeli government has said.

"These are numbers that were up until now unimaginable," Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said. "This will shape the future of this war."

In the days since Hamas' attack, Israeli families have turned to the international community — telling stories about their missing loved ones in press conferences, television interviews, and on social media — in a bid to garner support.

One family in Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel not far from the Gaza border, saw five members captured by Hamas, Abbey Onn, a cousin of those now assumed to be hostages, told Insider via a phone call.

Onn, an American who lives in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, told Insider that five of her family members, ranging from age 12 to 80, were believed to have been kidnapped. But since Saturday, the family has received no up-to-date information on their well-being, she said.

Among those kidnapped were three children between the ages of 12 and 14; a 50-year-old father; and an 80-year-old grandmother, she said. Onn said it was possible that Hamas may have set their home on fire to lure them outside.

"I feel devastated because I understand that Israel is going to do what it needs to protect the majority of its citizens," Onn said. "I don't know what the solution to this will be. I don't know what the outcome is."

Spokespersons for the US State Department, Israeli government, and Israel Defence Forces did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Hamas has threatened to kill civilian hostages should Israel target civilian sites in Gaza "without warning," a representative for the group said. That's likely to create difficult conflicts for Israel in the days ahead, as its government balances concerns for the hostages' safety with the swift and punishing response it's promised to deliver.

"As the Israeli military responds to what's happened, obviously ensuring that it does so while also safeguarding the Israelis who have been taken captive becomes imperative," Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee and former Democratic member of the House of Representatives from Florida, told Insider on Monday.

He added that the American Jewish Committee's offices in Jerusalem and the US were actively "responding when we receive calls from family members" about missing loved ones. "We try to get them in touch with the appropriate people in Israel who can be helpful."

The captors close in

Onn said her loved ones were terrified when Hamas came to their home.

"We started getting WhatsApp messages from family members that Hamas was in the kibbutz," Onn said. "They could hear Hamas in the house. They could hear gunfire, and we understood that they were afraid for their lives. They didn't know if they would get out."

Some members of Onn's family, including Hadas, the children's mother, escaped Hamas militants. But, as for those who were taken, Onn said the family has to hold on to hope during an excruciating time.

"You try to stay one notch above the emotions and try to push through and do anything you can to make sure that the world sees this and understands," she said. And she said that there is a distinction between the Palestinian people and Hamas, which she called a "terror organization" that's distinct from civilians in Gaza.

Hamas' goal in taking hostages back to Gaza remains unclear, but some have speculated that they could be used to bargain in an eventual negotiation or prisoner swap with Israel. Reuters reported Monday, citing a source briefed on the talks, that Qatari mediators had "held urgent calls" to try to secure the release of kidnapped Israeli women and children in exchange for 36 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails.

Hamas may also be hoping that the presence of Israelis will deter Jerusalem from pressing a full-scale attack inside Gaza, though recent reports suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is readying a large-scale ground invasion.

The abductions also stand to deal a painful, long-term psychological blow to Israel, Kenneth Quinn, an American high school English teacher who's lived in the country for more than three decades, told Insider.

"Israelis are extremely, extremely sensitive to hostages being taken," Quinn said, adding that the country had engaged in prisoner swaps over the years, leading to the release of numerous operatives to groups known to engage in terrorist activity.

A plea from loved ones

Information about missing loved ones has been hard to come by, people in Israel told Insider on Sunday and Monday. Some families are speaking with international media outlets to share their stories.

"We know that the government and the military are working their channels, but we don't know much more," Onn said.

"We're optimistic that, if we can raise the level of urgency on this in the international community, that there'll be enough pressure that these people will be released," she added, noting that her family was also trying to liaise with the consulates of the French and American governments because some of her loved ones hold more than one passport.

Meanwhile, numerous other families have taken to public forums to plead for the hostages to be released.

Families of kidnapped Americans gathered for a press conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday afternoon, where they appealed to Washington for help. Nahar Neta, an American citizen born in Israel whose mother Adrienne Neta was captured by Hamas and taken to Gaza, said that families had received "zero communication from the Israeli government."

"All we ask from the Biden administration and the Secretary of State Blinken is to act to the immediate release of all hostages, and remember that the US government has direct responsibility to the lives of the US citizens that are held hostage by these terrorists," Neta said during the televised conference. "So whatever any government needs to do in order to make that happen, please make that happen."

Rubi Chen, whose son Itay is missing following the attack, added during the media event that his family had been in contact with the State Department and US embassy in Israel. He said the Israeli government had given his family an "indication" that Itay was considered "missing in action," he said.

Chen said there had been "no formal or concentrated attempt to talk to us as a group and updating us about what they are doing in this matter" when asked at the press conference by NBC News anchor Lester Holt about whether the families had been contacted by government authorities. He said he thought it would be a "legit request" for State Department representatives to advise families on "what they are planning to do."

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, told reporters in a Monday night briefing that the US government was in "direct communication with Israeli officials" about the hostage crisis, and had also "been hearing from many family members."

"The President has directed his team to work with their Israeli counterparts on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to consult with and advise Israeli counterparts on hostage recovery efforts," Kirby said, according to a transcript.

'I just want my baby, my son back'

In a televised interview Monday night with CNN, Shelly Shem Tov, an Israeli mother whose 21-year-old son Omer was taken hostage, said she just wants her family to be whole again.

Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper, Shem Tov recounted the call she received from Omer before he was kidnapped.

"He was in panic. He told us that they are shooting guns," she told Tapper. The family tracked Omer's location on his cell phone, she added, and said they watched as his signal showed him crossing the border into Gaza. They haven't spoken since, she said.

Shem Tov said that the family didn't have information on Omer's condition, but, hours after he was abducted, they received a Telegram video showing a young man lying down on the bed of a pickup truck, handcuffed, who they believe is Omer. He appeared unhurt, Shem Tov said, but added that she'd received no new information in the following days.

"I just want my baby, my son back," Shem Tov said. "The thing that I want — it's only that he will come back home."

Are you affected by the crisis in Israel and Gaza, or do you know someone who is and is willing to share their story? Reed Alexander can be reached via email at ralexander@insider.com or SMS/the encrypted app Signal at +1 561 247 5758.