Grandma survived Oct. 7 by talking Messi, calls on soccer star to help free her grandsons
Argentine-born Esther Cunio, 8 of whose family members were kidnapped, avoided capture by mentioning soccer icon Messi to terrorist, who then posed with her in viral clip
The grandmother of two Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza says she evaded capture herself on October 7 by bonding with a Hamas terrorist over the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi — and now wants the athlete to help secure her grandsons’ freedom.
The Argentinian-Israeli who survived the attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz will feature in a new documentary about the Hamas-led October 7 terror onslaught, telling her story for the first time.
Esther Cunio, 90, avoided being captured by mentioning Messi to a Hamas terrorist, who then posed with her in a short clip that went viral on social media.
“Voces de 7 de octubre – Latino Stories of Survival” is being produced by Fuente Latina, a non-profit that works with Spanish media covering Israel. The organization said in a statement Thursday that the documentary, still in the production stage, was being directed by Tony Hernandez, founder of the award-winning Immigrant Archive Project.
The film will document the atrocities of October 7 from the viewpoint of Israelis from Latin America who experienced it, according to the statement.
Eight members of Cunio’s extended family were abducted on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing over 250 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid horrific acts of brutality and sexual assault.
Two of her grandchildren, Ariel and David Cunio, are still being held by terrorists. David’s wife and their twin 3-year-old daughters were also captured on October 7 and released as part of a weeklong truce in late November, as were his sister-in-law Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia. Ariel’s girlfriend, Arbel Yehud, 28, was also kidnapped and is still held captive in Gaza.
In a clip from the documentary, Cunio describes hearing knocking at her door and finding two Hamas terrorists.
“One of them asked, ‘Where is your family?'” she recalls. “I don’t have any family, I tell him,” she told them. “I am alone.”
“You speak Arabic, and I speak Hebrew poorly,” she told him. “I speak Argentine, Spanish… Do you watch soccer?”
When the terrorist answered affirmatively, Cunio told him “I am from where Messi is from.”
“Messi!” replied the gunman, enthusing about the World Cup-winning Argentinian national team captain. “I like Messi.”
The terrorist then put his rifle in her lap and told her to pose with her hand held in a victory sign, while another terrorist recorded a short clip that later went viral on social media.
“I hope that if [Messi] knows that I mentioned him, and because of him, I was saved,” she says in the film.
“Now I would ask for my grandchildren, for my two grandchildren who are locked up there, and I would tell him to please pray to God, to send them… that he tries to get them out because they are kids who are worth gold,” Cunio says in the film.
A kidnapped elderly Israeli woman is reportedly seen being forced to pose with a Hamas terrorist pic.twitter.com/qbKuwIQD1X
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) October 8, 2023
“This documentary is unique as it spotlights the Spanish-speaking community in Israel and conveys their stories of horror and heroism from the Hamas attack to millions of Hispanics worldwide,” said Leah Soibel, CEO and Founder of Fuente Latina. “The film is critical as it preserves these testimonies for future generations, ensuring the truth is not distorted or forgotten, as is the case with past events.”
Dozens of survivors have been interviewed for the documentary project.
“Documenting the narratives of the October 7th Hamas attacks from the viewpoints of Spanish-speaking immigrants has been an extraordinary privilege. Our film aims to preserve the lessons of history, while leveraging the strength of our shared humanity in the battle against terrorism,” said Tony Hernandez, the film’s director.
It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during the November truce, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 31 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas has also been holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
