Aunt says hostage niece’s return was miracle, but she’ll keep fighting until all are home
Roxanne Saar, whose niece Gali Tarshansky was held captive and nephew Lior was killed at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, says PM’s attitude toward hostages ‘like a knife in the gut’
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
On Friday night, October 6, the extended Tarshansky, Aroussi, Saar and Shosh families ate their Shavuot holiday meal together at Kibbutz Be’eri.
The next morning, Gali Tarshansky, 13, was taken hostage, her brother Lior Tarshansky, 15, was killed by Hamas terrorists, and their uncle, Noy Shosh, 36, was killed, as he defended his young family.
Since then, it’s been days, weeks and months of mourning, fear and activism for Roxanne Saar, a maternal aunt to Gali and Lior, and sister-in-law to Noy Shosh. She thinks of Be’eri as a second home since marrying her husband, Gonen Saar, who grew up at the kibbutz.
“Sometimes we stay over, 100 times we’ve stayed over and this one time, we didn’t,” said Saar, who lives in Ashdod, recalling that her family stayed in Be’eri for nearly a month last summer, while they were having their home renovated. “That’s what stays with me, that I could also be a hostage right now, me, my daughters, my husband.”
Saar’s husband, Gonen Saar (who Hebraicized his last name years ago), is the younger brother of Reuma Aroussi, the mother of released hostage Gali Tarshansky. Gali and Lior lived at Be’eri, where their divorced parents, Ilya Tarshansky and Reuma Aroussi, both lived, along with their maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, hundreds of terrorists swarmed into the kibbutz, where residents were left to fend for themselves for long hours, as terrorists moved from home to home, kidnapping, brutalizing and massacring civilians well into the afternoon.
In all, 101 civilians and 31 security personnel were killed in Be’eri — a community of around 1,000 residents — and a further 30 residents and two more civilians were taken hostage by the Hamas terrorists, 11 of whom still remain in Gaza.
“I could have been there in Gaza, with all the women, like Shiri Bibas and her babies,” said Saar. “I was there the night before and we came home. Why? I have no idea.”
Saar has played an active role in the now-nine-month battle to get the hostages home, lobbying weekly in the Knesset to attain attention for those still held, and rehabilitation budgets and focus on the released hostages.
Saar said she sits in the Knesset plenum and committees “to yell, because Gali can’t be there until all the hostages are back home,” she said. “It’s to be her voice and Reuma’s voice. We had a miracle that Gali came back, but it’s not over.”
Gali was in the reinforced room with her brother, Lior, 15, and their father, Ilya on that October morning.
Terrorists tried to storm into the safe room, and then lit the home on fire. The Tarshanskys tried to jump out of the window, but terrorists were waiting and opened fire, killing Lior.
Gali was taken captive to Gaza, while Ilya managed to escape. Gali was released on November 29 during a temporary ceasefire.
On that morning, Reuma Aroussi sat alone in her sealed room, knowing that Hamas terrorists were invading the kibbutz and not knowing what was happening to her children.
It took two weeks for the army to determine that Gali had been taken hostage and Lior killed.
Gali was released 52 days later, in one of the last days of the ceasefire at the end of November. The first thing she asked about was her brother, Lior, who was about to turn 16, said Saar.
“I’m not sure Reuma has mourned Lior yet, because she’s so involved in taking care of Gali,” said Saar. “It’s like having a small child again, making sure she’s okay all the time. She’s all of 14 and went through an experience that none of us can really imagine.”
When Gali returned, she was in good physical condition, but emotionally spent. She was kept captive with two other Be’eri residents, Raz and Ohad Ben Ami. Raz was also released at the end of November, but Ohad is still held hostage.
“There are days, and there are days,” said Saar. “Some days are totally normal for her, where she goes to school and plays volleyball and makes a video for TikTok, but there are less good days.”
Many Be’eri residents are still living in hotels in the Dead Sea, but Tarshansky and her mother, Reuma, currently live in Tel Aviv.
“Physically, Gali is back, but it’s not over,” said Saar. “It’s all very real for our family. We can’t rehabilitate until everyone is back.”
When Gali marked her 14th birthday after her release from captivity, she wore a yellow dress to remember all the hostages who have yet to return home, said her aunt.
As Saar sits in the Knesset, she notes the Knesset members who pay attention to the hostage families, and the many others who are apathetic, focused only on coalition politics.
She also noted that when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks publicly, he never mentions the hostages first — always second or third on the list of war priorities.
“Is that what he would do if it was one of his own family members?” said Saar.
Saar said that what she sees as a lack of empathy and attention to the hostages by Netanyahu “is like a knife in the gut, like touching a wound all the time.”
“I can’t believe that people were taken in their pajamas from their houses and nine months later they still aren’t here,” she said. “To tell you the truth, I initially thought that it wouldn’t be more than two weeks. I can’t believe that we’re still in this.”
It brings her back to the period when her niece, Gali, was held hostage and was one of the last people to be released. Saar found she couldn’t pay attention to anything until she saw her smiling in the hospital.
“I can’t imagine what this is like for the families who haven’t seen their loved ones in nine months,” said Saar. “We only went through this for nearly two months. If you’re not in it, you can’t imagine it, but you should try.”
