Excruciating pain of pregnant mother waiting for the birth of her child without his father after he was kidnapped by Hamas during the terror attack in Israel

A pregnant mother whose loving husband was kidnapped by Hamas has spoken of the pain of waiting for the birth of their child without him.

Michal Lobanov, 28, said she was left 'depressed', 'alone' and filled with 'hatred' towards Hamas after they kidnapped her 32-year-old husband Alexander.

She spoke out for the first time and demanded that the men still held in Gaza are not forgotten. She told the Daily Mail: 'It's not human to feel sad when you're pregnant.'

The couple met in 2013 while working in a restaurant and, after eight blissful years, had a “perfect” wedding by the sea in Ashdod, southern Israel.

They had their first child, Tom, that year and couldn't wait for a second son, due to be born in March.

But tragically, on October 7, Mr Lobanov was running his bar business at the desert rave near Re'im when Hamas stormed the festival.

As alarms went off across the country, he initially told his wife that he was fine and would be home soon, but at 9 a.m. he called to say he was fleeing terrorists.

“That was the last call,” said Ms. Lobanov, who lives with their two-year-old son in Ashkelon, southern Israel. The coastal city is just 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Gaza and within earshot of the heavy bombardment ravaging the territory – a constant reminder of the hellish conditions her husband endures.

“He was missing for eighteen days,” the police officer said. 'Only after eighteen days did the army come to me and tell me that he had been kidnapped.

'I thought I would feel relief, but I didn't. Everyone knows the Hamas people, the terrorists. We know how terrible it is to be held hostage by them.

“I think it's the worst thing anyone can wish for: being a hostage of Hamas.”

What was the most magical time of their lives has turned into a brutal nightmare.

“I can't even explain how difficult this is,” Ms Lobanov told the Mail from her parents' home where she had been staying since October 7. 'My mother helps me a lot, but it's not the same. He is missing.'

Mrs. Lobanov cannot explain what happened to their son, who only points to the jeep in which he and his father went on an adventure together and asks, “Dad?” Dad? Dad?'

She said, “A pregnant woman should never feel sad when she is pregnant. It is not human to be sad when you are pregnant.

“It's not okay and I have no control over it because I can't take him back. He is not there and so my grief is not over yet.

'I don't want to tell my children the story that I was very sad when I was pregnant. It's really horrible to say, but that's my life now.

'It's a very sad pregnancy, very sad. But I love this boy and I want him, and Alex wants him, so it doesn't matter if it's sad or not.”

While Israel's efforts have rightly prioritized the liberation of women, children and the elderly, Ms. Lobanov's fight is a rallying cry for the men still trapped there.

To raise awareness, she posed for a photo with a local newspaper, showing off her baby bump with the words 'Come back daddy' written on her stomach.

“I'm afraid Alex will be the last to be released,” she said. “I think it's very important to have all children, all children and women, but not just them.

'The men suffer too, they have the same pain. They don't have less pain because they are men. They have to get them back now.”

Mrs. Lobanov cannot forgive the terrorists for what they did to her at what should have been a precious time for her young family.

“I feel anger and I feel hate,” she said. 'Because they hate us. I am very depressed. But I just want to see him back home, so it doesn't matter what I think about Hamas.”

But she strongly believes that her husband's love for their children will keep him going in the tunnels of Gaza. “I know he is a strong person, he can get through this because he has so many good reasons to come back,” she said.

“I know he's thinking of his children, of me, and that he needs to be strong.”

Before Mr. Lobanov was taken, the couple had narrowed down names for their son, and it is the thought of him deciding what to name their child that keeps Mrs. Lobanov going.

“I still want him to come back and pick a name,” she said. 'There is no other option: he will be here and he will choose his name.

“I don't even want to talk about other options because there is no other option.”

She adds, “There's a phrase that says hope dies last. You know, hope is everything. This is my hope, this is what I wish.'