Mother: 'I feel that he can feel me when I’m in there'

‘This was a place of joy’: Time stands still in empty bedrooms of hostages held in Gaza

Families reflect on significance of captives’ inner sanctums, some of which bear witness to October 7 onslaught, while others exude an untouched tranquility

  • Bullet holes cover the bedroom wall of hostage Ariel Bibas, 4, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. The name 'Ariel' appears on the wall in the top-right corner. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    Bullet holes cover the bedroom wall of hostage Ariel Bibas, 4, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. The name 'Ariel' appears on the wall in the top-right corner. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • The bedroom of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, in Jerusalem, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    The bedroom of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, in Jerusalem, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • A bullet hole is seen on the bedroom wall of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, 30, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    A bullet hole is seen on the bedroom wall of hostage Doron Steinbrecher, 30, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • The bedroom of hostage Omer Neutra, 22, at his relative's home in Ra'anana, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    The bedroom of hostage Omer Neutra, 22, at his relative's home in Ra'anana, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • Bullet holes and smoke damage in the bedroom of hostage Ziv Berman, 26, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    Bullet holes and smoke damage in the bedroom of hostage Ziv Berman, 26, in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, June 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • The bedroom of hostage Aryeh Zalmanovich, 85, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    The bedroom of hostage Aryeh Zalmanovich, 85, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • Blood stains the floor of the bedroom where Ariel Cunio, 27 and his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, 29, were kidnapped on October 7, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024.  (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    Blood stains the floor of the bedroom where Ariel Cunio, 27 and his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, 29, were kidnapped on October 7, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • The scorched bedroom of hostage Oded Lifshitz, 84, and his wife, freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    The scorched bedroom of hostage Oded Lifshitz, 84, and his wife, freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
  • The bedroom of hostage Nimrod Cohen, 19, in Rehovot, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
    The bedroom of hostage Nimrod Cohen, 19, in Rehovot, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

KIBBUTZ NIR OZ (AP) — The empty bedrooms of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain frozen in time.

Nine months into their captivity in Gaza, some hostages’ bedrooms still show signs of that day’s violence and struggle: blood-stained floors, bullet-riddled walls, scorched and toppled furniture.

Others exude tranquility and routine: their beds are left unmade and their belongings — trophies, stuffed animals, framed photos — remain untouched at the behest of shell-shocked families as a testimony to their absence.

Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists killed roughly 1,200 people in Israel on October 7, and kidnapped 251 — many taken from their bedrooms.

Since then, Israel has killed over 38,000 Palestinians while fighting Hamas in Gaza, according to the Strip’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Israel Defense Force says it killed about 15,000 gunmen in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 in Israel on October 7.

It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 19 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.

For many of those kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, their bedrooms or entire homes were destroyed.

The remains of a mattress are seen in the scorched bedroom of hostage David Cunio, 34, and his wife, freed hostage Sharon Alony Cunio, 33, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

All that remains of the charred bedroom of David Cunio and Sharon Alony Cunio are the curled springs of their mattress, lying in a pile of soot.

“This was a place of joy until October 7, of joy, of the gift of togetherness, of giving, of love. Now, it’s not just a war zone, but a place of massacre,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, as he leaned against the door frame of the destroyed bedroom of his son, Sagui.

Damage from a hand grenade seen in the bedroom of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, May 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Dekel-Chen wonders how his family — now living with other members of Kibbutz Nir Oz in temporary housing an hour away — will ever regain their sense of security.

Sagui’s wife, Avital, was seven months pregnant on October 7 and survived the attack with her two daughters by hiding for hours in the family’s safe room.

She gave birth to a third daughter during Sagui’s captivity.

In Givatayim, a suburb of Tel Aviv, plastic sheeting covers the furniture in the empty home of Or and Eynav Levy.

Plastic covers the bed in the home of Eynav Levy, 32, who was killed on October 7, and her husband, hostage Or Levy, 33, in Givatayim, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Or was kidnapped and Eynav was killed in the attack on the Reim-area Nova music festival.

Their three-year-old son, Almog, now lives with his grandparents.

The family of Naama Levy, 20, a soldier kidnapped from an army base near Gaza, has kept most everything intact in her bedroom.

But they’ve also filled her bedroom with photo collages and presents that people have made for Naama when she returns.

Amit Levy, Naama’s 21-year-old brother, said he sometimes sleeps in his sister’s room when he’s feeling especially low. “It helps me feel her, to be in her room and her pictures around me, I’m not sad because I’m always thinking that she’ll come home soon.”

The bedroom of hostage Naama Levy, 20, in Ra’anana, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

In the bedroom of Omer Shem-Tov, 21, who was kidnapped with some 40 others from the Nova music festival, the light never goes off.

His mother, Shelly Shem-Tov, put a piece of tape over the light switch on Oct. 8 with instructions that nobody should touch or clean up the room until he comes home and does it himself.

Omer’s room is strewn with mementos, including a Torah scroll, that have been blessed by rabbis.

The bedroom of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, 21, in Herzliya, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

“I get strength from that room,” said Shem-Tov, who is active in pressuring the Israeli government to bring her son — and all of the hostages — home.

“This bedroom has energy,” said Shem-Tov, who prays in it every morning and evening and has long talks with her other children as they lay sprawled on Omer’s bed. “I feel that he can feel me when I’m in there.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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