The harrowing images of a terrified, bloodied young girl having her hair pulled and bundled into the back of a truck by Hamas terrorists shocked the world.
But seeing her gentle, loving 19-year-old daughter Naama Levy paraded in blood-soaked pajamas by armed fanatics was beyond Ayelet Levy-Shachar's darkest nightmare.
The 50-year-old mother of four has opened up about the “unbearable pain” of watching her second child being taken to war-torn Gaza, where she spent more than 70 days underground.
In her first heartbreaking newspaper interview, Dr Levy-Shachar tells The Mail on Sunday that she wants the world to know her daughter, not through those terrible images, but as a “determined”, sporty girl who loves the American rock singer Pink, who volunteered for pro-Palestinian charities and dreams of becoming a diplomat.
And she urged mothers around the world to “hear my cry” and “take action” to get all those hostages still held in Gaza home.
The harrowing images of a terrified teenage girl having her hair pulled and bundled into the back of a truck by Hamas terrorists shocked the world
The mother of four tells of the 'unbearable pain' of seeing her second child taken to war-torn Gaza, where she spent more than 70 days underground in a Hamas tunnel (photo: Ayelet Levy Schacher and her daughter Naama Levy)
Sitting in her quiet apartment in the leafy residential town of Ra'anana, 16 kilometers north of Tel Aviv, Dr. Levy-Shachar describes how her quiet life in the suburbs as a general practitioner ended up in hell on October 7.
That day she was going to visit Naama at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, about 60 miles south of Gaza, and she had left a cooler by the door the night before to fill it with all of Naama's favorite treats.
“I was just here with the other kids and at 6:30 the siren went off,” said the medic, who is also the doctor for Israel's national women's soccer team.
'I texted Naama asking, 'What's going on? Is everything all right?' She wrote back to me: 'We are in the safe room. I've never heard anything like it in my life.”
That would be the last time they communicated.
As the news broke, Dr. Levy-Shachar began to worry about her daughter, but it wasn't until Naama's 52-year-old father, Yoni Levy, called four hours later that the full horror began to emerge.
While on her porch playing a Monopoly board game with Naama's siblings, Amit, 21, Michal, 16, and Omri, 11, Mr. Levy told her, “Something bad is going on. There is a video of Naama being kidnapped to Gaza. The video is in Gaza.”
Panic set in and her children started searching social media. Naama's brother Amit quickly found the gruesome images and told his mother, “Mama, don't look at that.”
“Then my youngest daughter, Michal, looked at it,” Dr. Levy-Shachar said. “She started crying and said, 'Why is she there alone?'
“There are so many specific details in that video. Her terrified face, being dragged by her hair, her bloody sweatpants, pajamas, her wounds. But what her sister saw was that she was alone. That was the scariest part for her.”
Dr. Levy-Shachar added: “I understood that something terrible is happening; just through her eyes, through the eyes of my youngest daughter.”
Dr. Levy-Schacher (pictured holding a photo of her daughter Naama Levy) urged mothers around the world to “hear my cry” and “take action” to save all those hostages still in Gaza are being held, to get back home.
Naama Levy's siblings speak during a Lights for Liberty event demanding the release of the remaining 135 hostages held in Gaza on December 13, 2023
But the ceasefire was cruelly broken and Naama was held captive. She is one of seventeen young women among the 130 hostages still held in Gaza. “It's unbearable,” said Dr Levy-Shachar (pictured), adding that she had made a 'welcome home' sign for her daughter
Israel responded to the atrocities by storming Gaza from land, air and sea. A short-lived ceasefire brought Hamas to the negotiating table last month to secure the release of 105 hostages.
But the ceasefire was cruelly broken and Naama was held captive. She is one of seventeen young women among the 130 hostages still held in Gaza.
“It's unbearable,” Dr. Levy-Shachar said, adding that she made a “welcome home” sign for her daughter.
It was heartbreaking to see other families reunited with their loved ones last month, she said.
In a wobbly voice, she added, “It's like a scream inside me, saying, 'My Naama, I'm waiting for you, Naama.'
“I'm happy for everyone who got out, but she's my daughter. The world has moved on, people are going on with their lives and Christmas is coming, but for us everything has come to a standstill.'
A glimmer of hope came from released hostages who confirmed they had seen Naama still alive.
“We know she has some wounds, but she is on her feet and she can walk, so I am hopeful,” the mother said. Responding to reports this week of the killing of hostages, she added: “It makes it even more important for the world to know what we are dealing with.
“Time is running out for these young girls,” she said. “When I talk, my voice is soft and my words come out slowly, but I want mothers around the world to hear my cry – and take action.”
Incredibly, she doesn't hate the people who took Naama.
“I have to hope,” she says. “Maybe one of them, they have a heart. They can see that sweet little girl; they can be good to her and keep her from harm. “I don't mean to be hateful, I just want her back.”
Dr. Levy-Shachar said she imagines her daughter lying in a tunnel in Gaza, by her side.
'I try to stroke her hair, and in my mind I put her to sleep. I say: 'Hold on, we'll come get you.'