Israeli Hostages to Family: “This is a Holocaust”

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, INTERNATIONAL HOST: Abbey Onn is an American Israeli whose world fell apart over the weekend, like so many others, when she says five of her family members were kidnapped by Hamas and taken to Gaza. Three of them are children, 16 or younger. And Abbey Onn is joining me now from Jerusalem. Firstly, Abbey Onn, thank you for being with us. Tell me what actually happened, having five members, they must have all been in the same place. How did they get taken and snatched?

ABBEY ONN, RELATIVE OF FIVE ISRAELI HOSTAGES: Thank you for having me. We – – everyone woke up to sirens on Saturday morning and we have a family WhatsApp group and we began getting messages from our family in Nir Oz, which is a kibbutz, very close to the Gaza border, that Hamas was there. And then, we began getting photos and videos in general that there had been a massive infiltration of terrorists. And we got messages from the family that they were in the house and that they could hear gunfire and that they were afraid for their lives. They were actually in two different locations. It’s a grandmother, three of her grandchildren and her son-in-law. Noya (ph) is 13 and she has special needs. Carmela is 80. She is matriarch of the family, an elderly. And we lost contact with them around 11:00 or 12:00. The last thing they wrote us is that, this is a holocaust and we are afraid we won’t live. And we know once the army took control of the Nir Oz that the physical place of Nir Oz had been burned to the ground. The kibbutz is no longer. And that almost half of the residents had been slaughtered in cold blood. And that the people that they didn’t find had been taken hostage.

AMANPOUR: Abbey, one of those appears to be, as you’ve just said, a 12- year-old member of your family. Erez Calderon (ph).

ONN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Because we have a video, and I know you have wanted us to show this video so that people can see what actually happened. Here’s a little 12-year-old Erez (ph) being manhandled as he appears to be taken captive.

ONN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: He is one of them, right? Tell me a little bit about Erez (ph)?

ONN: Look, I have a 12-year-old son in the other room, and I think it is important for people to see this because it is a parent’s worst nightmare, it is the worst thing imaginable to think a terrorist would put their hands on your child and to pull them and to push them and to take them away from their home and their family. Erez (ph) is a 12-year-old, like my son, playing video games and riding his bike and a brother to his sisters and a son to his parents and a grandchild and a loved member of his family. And this was a horrific, horrific act of terrorism against civilians.

AMANPOUR: Abbey, have you had any support from — have your family been, you know, approached by the government, the military, you know, officials? Do — are you getting any direction or any help as to what they might be doing, what might happen next?

ONN: We are trying to do the best on our own right now to — Carmela is both American and French, and we’re working with both governments to try to put pressure where we can. We are trying to speak to as much media and as many languages as we can. We are working with consulates to make sure that everything is identified and we’re trying to follow whatever protocol. But we don’t have more information in that video that Hamas posted.

AMANPOUR: Abbey, can you — you just mentioned Carmela, she is 80 years old, Carmela Dan.

ONN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: What is her history? You said she’s a survivor?

ONN: She’s — her father was born in the United States and he moved to Israel almost 100 years ago to build the country. She was born on a kibbutz in the north and she fell in love with Orrie (ph), who is from Nir Oz. His family was from Nir Oz from the beginning, and they’ve been living there for more than 60 years. She’s the matriarch of the family and she is the happiest, funniest, most loving woman. And she was deeply, deeply connected to this place and to this land and to her family. And she was an American and she also lived in France representing Israel. So, she’s also a French citizen. This is an issue of global urgency.

AMANPOUR: Yes. Indeed. And the president of the United States is expected to speak shortly. We will see if he mentions American hostages and other international hostages as well as the Israelis. Abbey Onn, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.

ONN: Thank you.