Exclusive: Maayan Zin’s daughters were kidnapped by Hamas. Her biggest fear is that they witnessed their father being murdered
'Stop talking about the stories of the kidnapped. Bring them home!' says the mother of 8-year-old Ella and 15-year-old Dafna
Maayan Zin is taking sleeping pills. She needs them in order to get rest of any kind; to be strong for her daughters. She’s eating very little and has lost her voice through speaking to so many journalists.
Her two daughters were kidnapped by Hamas on Saturday 7th October. They were with their father and Maayan’s ex-husband Noam at Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel, to celebrate the community’s 70th birthday.
Eight-year-old Ella and 15-year-old Dafna were taken along with Noam’s partner Dikla and her 17-year-old son Tomer.
Speaking to Jewish News via a translator, Amit Daniel (who has given up her regular job to volunteer as a translator for 10 families who have loved ones missing), Maayan speaks of the moment on Tuesday when she discovered Noam, Dikla and Tomer had been brutally murdered.
She looks exhausted, with dark circles around her eyes. Yet she remains utterly resolute. She wants her daughters back and is calling on the global community to take action.
“She’s amazing,” says Amit. “That’s all I can tell you. She is a strong woman, although two days ago was more difficult, but I’m telling you, she’s unbelievable. She’s like a lion. A lioness.”
Maayan says her biggest fear is that her daughters witnessed the executions. She only found about their deaths through Dikla’s family. Their deaths were so violent that the bodies could not be ritually prepared as befits Jewish tradition for their funerals on Wednesday.
All three were murdered on the kibbutz.
“It was probably very brutal,” she says. “We will never know what was in their coffins. They didn’t put up a fight.”
Following a video posted to Facebook of all five family members together, the assumption was that they were all kidnapped to Gaza. Please be advised it contains distressing images.
The last time she heard any news was on Saturday, when a picture of the girls appeared on a Gaza news site. At the time she told Jewish News that it was one of both of them together sitting on the floor, their shorts replaced with long sleeved “clothes for prayer.”
Maayan says: “There were many people murdered on the kibbutz that weren’t yet identified. So it took time until they could identify everyone. I can’t stop thinking about both my daughters probably being witness to see that happen.”
Although she has had no further proof of life, Maayan remains hopeful. She says will do everything that is needed to bring her daughters back home.
Her message is simple: “The world and specifically organisations like the UN need to understand it is their responsibility to bring those kidnapped back home. They need to understand that Hamas is ISIS. It’s not Israel. Israel is not the story here.
“The story here is that what happens now to Israel and bringing back these families, tomorrow can happen to any country. And it’s the responsibility of the UN and the governments to make sure they bring those civilians back home. They did nothing wrong. They’re not a part of that. Stop talking about the stories of the kidnapped. Bring them home. This is it.”
Maayan falls silent, nodding that she still has hope.
“There are no words,” says Amit. “Not in Hebrew or any other language. But we will continue. We won’t stop until we have brought them back.”
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