Dr. Flowers @AlliFlowers@talkedabout.social

On the morning of October 7th, Hamas militants broke into the home of Ella, 8, and Dafna Elyakim, 15, and live-streamed the attack as they shot and killed their father, murdered his partner, Dikla, and forced her son, Tomer, to trick other residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz into false safety before murdering him as well.

Dafna and Ella were taken to Gaza in their murdered father’s car and placed in the home of a Gazan family.

There, they were psychologically tortured as Hamas members told repeatedly that they would only go home in coffins and that no one in Israel cared about them.

Over the course of their 50 days in captivity, the sisters were held in two houses, a school, and finally a subterranean tunnel.

As they were finally being released on November 26, a Hamas operative whispered to them: “We know where you live and we’ll come and kill you if you reveal where you were held captive.”

The bravery of these two young girls is astounding.

They are heroes. But they shouldn’t have to be.

Keith Siegel was taken captive with his wife, Aviva Siegel, a kindergarten teacher, from their home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7th.

The Siegels, aged 64 and 62, woke up to the sound of sirens on the morning of 7 October. Grabbing a phone, they rushed to their safe room in their pajamas, expecting to be there for 10 minutes or so.

The Siegels kept in touch with the family over WhatsApp, explaining they had been advised in a message on the kibbutz’s WhatsApp group not to speak aloud. At about 10am, the messages stopped.

The couple was driven into Gaza in their own car, along with a neighbor and her two children.

Aviva Siegel was released on November 26. Her husband, Keith, remains a captive.

Keith Siegel, originally from North Carolina, works for a pharmaceutical company and is known as a quiet, kind man, dedicated to his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Bring Keith home now!!

Hamas’ network of tunnels under Gaza is approximately 160% larger than the London Underground, which is 250 miles long.

For reference, the Gaza Strip, which is about 25 square miles, is only 23% the size of London.

These tunnels have shafts poking out of homes, schools, UNRWA facilities, mosques, hospitals, kindergartens, and graveyards.

This is the monster that Israel is fighting: everywhere, immense, and terrifying.

And all of Gaza is sitting atop its nest.

Erick Peretz, 58, and his 16-year-old daughter, Ruth, were murdered by Hamas while attending the Supernova music festival on October 7.

Erick had taken Ruth, who was born with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy, and used a wheelchair, to the festival because of her love of music.

“For years he would go to these festivals and bring Ruth because it made her really happy and she loved it,” said Ya’arit Peretz, Erick’s daughter, and Ruth’s sister. “There were times he would take her and she didn’t want to come home. It was their tradition, to go to festivals.”

The pair were both missing for many days as their family searched frantically for information before they were informed that their bodies had been found more than 10 days after the attack.

Erick devoted his life to Ruth. He was an incredible father, a man with a free spirit, who loved everyone and was always smiling.

May the memories of Erick and Ruth forever be a blessing.