American family whose loved ones told them they were about to be murdered by Hamas during chilling phone call have been told they are ALIVE
An American family whose loved ones told them they were about to be killed by Hamas in a heartbreaking phone call have been told their family lives in a beacon of hope for dozens of distraught families.
Jay Zeitchek, 70, who lives in New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that the last words his family heard from their relatives in Israel when brutal terrorists descended on their home were: ‘I don’t know, we can don’t survive, I love you.’
They were then seen being taken hostage by gunmen in a chilling video that has been doing the rounds on social media.
The six members of Jay’s family, including three-year-old twins, were among hundreds terrorized by Hamas when militants gassed, burned and slaughtered innocent civilians at the Nir Oz kibbutz on Saturday morning.
More than a quarter of the community of 400 are thought to have been killed.
The family of Jay Zeitchek, from New Jersey, was seen being taken hostage by Hamas in a terrifying video circulating on social media. The hostages are: Amelia Alony (top left), twins Emma and Julie (top right), with their mother Sharon Cunio (bottom left), father David Cunio (center), and Danielle Alony, mother of Amelia (bottom right)
The family was together at a wedding in New York in August. Pictured left to right: Jay’s son, Justin, Sharon Cunio, and far right, Jay’s daughter, Alana, who earlier appealed for information after Sharon and her family were taken hostage
Jay (second from right), with his Israeli wife, Rachel, (far right) and their son Justin and his wife Becky
Jay’s cousin, Sharon Cunio, 35, her husband David, 35, and their twins Emma and Julie, were left in a bomb shelter for hours as Hamas set fire to their neighbour’s house and smoked them out of their hiding place has.
Next to them were Danielle Alony (43), Sharon’s older sister, and her daughter Amelia (5).
Alana Zeitchek, Jay’s daughter, appealed to US television on Thursday for information after she spotted her family members in a hostage video on social media.
She said she was on a phone call with her family while Hamas set fire to their neighbor’s house.
“Their house and their bomb shelters were full of smoke,” said Alana, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. ABC. “And that’s what these terrorists did. They were smoking people out like they were rodents. And the smoke started to fill in the bomb shelter and on the phone with my aunt my cousin said I don’t think we can survive. I love you and that was the last contact we had with them.’
Alana posted a photo of her ‘beautiful family’ on Instagram, along with the caption: ‘When it comes to families, I won the lottery with mine, and the love I have for them is immeasurable. On Saturday, Kibbutz Nir Oz was attacked by terrorists and they were taken hostage by genocidal thugs.
“A video started floating around on the news of hostages in a truck and we spotted them – I can see David crouching and holding one of their baby girls and I see Sharon and her hair from behind as she holds little Amelia like this hold tight
‘This horrible scene won’t stop replaying in my mind, along with the memory of the back of her head just over a month ago in my kitchen as we laughed as I curled her hair for my brother’s wedding.
‘The anguish I feel is nothing compared to what my aunt and uncle and their brother and in-laws are feeling, and the terror my cousins and their babies are experiencing is simply unimaginable. Please share their story, pray for their safe return and for the people of Israel.’
But Jay said on Friday that the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) had informed them that all six were alive, but did not reveal any further information or their sources.
“The most important thing is that they’re alive,” Jay added. “I have to have faith, and my family has to have faith, that they are going to come home to us.”
The 70-year-old admitted he feared what Hamas might do to their hostages if they began to feel that Israel was about to ‘wipe them off the face of the earth’, but said he believed ‘in the power of positive thinking ‘.
“I believed from the beginning that they were alive,” he added. “Even if you’re dealing with irrational characters, that the hostages are being taken for a reason.”
It comes amid growing fears for the fate of those held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, as Israel steps up its bombing campaign in the area.
The military wing of Hamas said the latest airstrikes killed 13 of the prisoners it had brought back from Israel.
Nir Oz, which lies one and a half kilometers from the border with Gaza, is one of several communities where Hamas massacred entire families in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community since the Holocaust.
The usually peaceful settlement of around 400 people awoke to a kibbutz in flames on Sunday morning after the barbaric assault, with chilling stories of atrocities emerging in the morning haze.
Many did not receive the hopeful news that Alana received on Friday, with another Israeli-American family recounting the devastating final texts of their loved ones who were burned alive in their homes.
Carol Simian Tov (70) was murdered on Saturday at the kibbutz Nir Oz where she lived with her family. Her son, his wife and their three children were also killed
Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov with her husband Johnny and their five-year-old daughters Shachar and Arbel, and their two-year-old son Omer. They were killed on Saturday
Johnny Siman Tov (36) and his wife Tamar Kedem-Simian Tov (35); their three children aged between two and five, and Johnny’s mother, Carol Simian Tov (70), were all killed on Saturday.
As Hamas terrorists advanced on their homes, Tamar initially texted family members in Australia to reassure them they were safe, before their messages turned to horror.
‘They are here. They burn us. We’re suffocating,’ Johnny told his sister, Ranae Butler, who lives in Israel.
Carol fled to her own home with her dog Charlie when Hamas advanced.
She was shot dead in her own safe room.
Two of Carol’s daughters and two of her sons survived the attack on the kibbutz, plus their father, Larry Butler.
One of the boys, Shachar Butler, who was head of security for the kibbutz, was shot in the attack but is recovering.