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Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-876709
The Mothers from Kfar Aza
(Jerusalem Post) Paushali Lass - Kibbutz Kfar Aza was a peaceful haven where families raised their children and believed in coexistence with their neighbors in Gaza. On Oct. 7, everything changed. Amit, a mother of three, spent 35 hours trapped in her home while terrorists used the house next door as their headquarters. Her children were 7, 5, and one year and eight months old. She told us about her husband hearing someone crying for help outside and saying: "I have to go." When we asked why Hamas never entered their home, her answer was: a miracle. It was completely random. Maya said that during the attack, she and her husband shielded their baby while hearing terrorists murder neighbors outside. Her thoughts were constantly with her extended family, all of whom lived on the kibbutz. Some survived. Some did not. Her sister and brother-in-law were murdered, leaving their 10-month-old twins orphaned. Maya said, "As long as Hamas and the ideology of killing Jews exist so close, it is not over. We are not safe." Olga told us her daughters were at a sleepover in another house in the kibbutz. She knew terrorists took over that house. She sat trapped in darkness for hours, listening to gunfire and screams. She and her children survived. Ellay, her husband, and their baby were set on fire by Hamas. They managed to escape, with fourth-degree burns. These women, who once believed in coexistence, told us it was not only Hamas that committed the horrors; civilians from Gaza participated in the murder, rape, burning and stealing.