Romi Gonen’s father says she heard his interviews while in captivity, drew strength from them

Eitan Gonen, the father of released hostage Romi Gonen, says that his daughter heard him calling for her release in snippets of interviews with Israeli media outlets that reached her during her long captivity in Gaza, and tells the families of the remaining hostages to continue speaking up.

Gonen was released from captivity last Sunday with Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher on the first day of the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas.

“I remember there were days when I was interviewed, eight, 10 times a day for all the networks,” Eitan tells the Kan public broadcaster. “Through the media, whether it was radio or television, the messages reached her.”

Throughout Romi’s absence, Gonen would end each media appearance by saying: “Romi is coming home. We just don’t know when exactly.”

“It was enough to hear her say, ‘Dad, I came back alive,’ to understand that she heard me,” he tells Kan. “It gave her a lot of strength, energy, a lot of hope.”

He urges the families of the remaining hostages to keep talking about their loved ones and keep advocating for them on air.

“Even if 10 percent of the interviews reaches the hostages’ ears, it’s enough to give them strength,” he says. “It gives them a little more strength and fresh air to keep them holding on in the hell that they are in.”