Mother of hostage Romi Gonen: ‘I know she’s alive, I have no doubt’

Meirav Leshem Gonen, the mother of Romi Gonen, who is being held captive in Gaza, says she has no doubt that her daughter is alive following reports that there may be fewer than 50 hostages still alive in the Strip.

“People are dying there, it’s already been proven, it’s not something we need the Wall Street Journal for,” Leshem Gonen tells Kan’s Reshet Bet radio.

She says they last received a sign of life of Romi — who was kidnapped at the Supernova festival — from the hostages who were freed in a deal in late November, “but I know that she’s alive, I have no doubt, these reports don’t bother me in relation to Romi specifically but rather because of the fact that we are all one family.”

Israel must secure the freedom of the living hostages but also bring back the bodies of those who have been killed for burial in Israel, Leshen Gonen says.