Taken captive: Doron Steinbrecher, ‘They’ve arrived, they have me’

Doron Steinbrecher, 30, was in her Kibbutz Kfar Aza apartment on October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, killing and kidnapping dozens of residents.

The veterinary nurse was in her apartment in the kibbutz housing for younger, single residents, but in touch with her married sister, Yamit Ashkenazi and their parents, all of whom also live on the kibbutz.

At 6:30 a.m., everyone on the kibbutz reported that they were in their safe rooms, said Ashkenazi.

“We were sure that there were 10 terrorists and our heroes would get them out and the security forces would arrive,” said Ashkenazi. “We never imagined anything like this.”

Ashkenazi was with her own family, including her children, ages 3 and 6, who remained in their sealed room for 21 hours, without food or water, until 1 a.m.

Her parents were in their own Kfar Aza home, and it was their garden that ended up being used by the terrorists as a kind of headquarters, leaving them surrounded by terrorists who for some reason, never attempted to enter their home.

“That was a miracle,” said Ashkenazi.

Throughout the morning, said Ashkenazi, she was in touch with her sister, who was terrified.

At 10:30 a.m., Doron told her parents that she was scared and that the terrorists had arrived at her building. She then sent a voice message to her friends in which she said, “They’ve arrived, they have me.”

That was the family’s only indication that Doron was abducted, along with other details, including that her room wasn’t set on fire and her body was not found.

A week later, the family received an official message that Doron is considered missing.

“She’s young and without any kind of dual citizenship,” said Ashkenazi. “The chance that she’ll be released is very low.”

“I’ve lived in Kfar Aza for 34 years,” added Ashkenazi. “We were always given the sense that we’re protected. But in the end, they invaded, killed us, abducted us and burned our houses down.”