Hostage Romi Gonen’s family marks her 24th birthday with event to ‘spread light’
Father Eitan describes his daughter, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, as ‘magical,’ says there is ‘no doubt’ she will return
The family of hostage Romi Gonen, now in Hamas captivity for over 300 days, was marking her 24th birthday Sunday with an event aimed at “spreading light.”
Gonen was kidnapped during the October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, in which Hamas terrorists killed some 1,200 people and seized 251 hostages.
Romi’s father Eitan told Channel 12 news that his daughter is “a magical girl. She’s all heart, all love…. a justice warrior.”
“It’s unbelievable that we’re marking this day without her,” he said.
Eitan went on to say that after much contemplation as to how to commemorate this special day, the family decided to hold a “day of good deeds, so that when Romi returns — and she will no doubt return — she will see the documentation [of the event] and be so happy.”
Eitan added that his family is an optimistic one, and that “we end every conversation, every interview, with the same words: that Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”
The family invited attendees to wear leopard print or yellow attire to embody the young abductee’s vibrant spirit.
מתפללים לשובך במהרה: רומי גונן מציינת את יום הולדתה ה-24 בשבי חמאס pic.twitter.com/TAWjwpaRxD
— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) August 18, 2024
A press release about the event said it would include a stand where attendants can create signs in solidarity with the hostages, a bar with Romi’s favorite cocktails, a flower arrangement station, music, and “Romi’s signature dance lesson.”
Ahead of Romi’s birthday, Yarden Gonen, her sister, spoke at a Tel Aviv protest on Saturday calling for a hostage release deal. She read a message to her sister, asking, “How can I continue to exist in this world, when I see people aren’t doing everything they can to return the hostages?”
Yarden Gonen revealed at the end of her speech that this message had been composed on her own birthday, some eight months ago, and lamented its continued relevance now.
Romi Gonen was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7, where Hamas terrorists killed 364 people.
It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
