RELEASED: Longtime peace activist Ada Sagi, 75, after 53 days in Gaza
Daughter of Holocaust survivors from Kibbutz Nir Oz learned Arabic to speak with ‘neighbors’
Ada Sagi, 75, was released on November 28 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel. This is the story of her capture:
Kibbutz Nir Oz resident Ada Sagi, 75, last called her son, Noam, at 9:20 a.m. on October 7, 2023, saying she heard voices speaking in Arabic outside her house and that she was going into her safe room.
That’s when he lost contact, Noam told The Jewish Chronicle.
Noam Sagi, a psychotherapist living in London with his family since 2002, said he saw a video online of a Palestinian journalist reporting from the front lawn of his mother’s home.
“I saw people start to come out from her house and my heart was sinking at that point,” he told The JC.
Like many others whose family members are missing or confirmed captives in Gaza, Sagi pieced together what happened to his mother from footage posted online by the Hamas terrorists.
He figured out that after the kibbutz was invaded by Hamas, a second wave of terrorists arrived to loot properties and take hostages to Gaza. He told The JC that he saw footage put online by Hamas of people who are his friends and family.
There were bloodstains in his mother’s house when security forces finally reached her home, but she’s not listed as dead or injured. Sagi feels strongly that his mother is alive and held hostage.
He’s concerned about her health, as she has asthma and other significant allergies and would not have an EpiPen with her.
Ada Sagi was preparing to travel to London to celebrate her 75th birthday, following a year of trauma after her husband of 54 years recently died of cancer. She also recently underwent hip replacement surgery, according to an AP report.
Ada was born in Tel Aviv in 1948, the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland. A mother of three, she learned Arabic to make friends with her neighbors and later taught the language to others as a way to improve communication with the Palestinians who live on the southeastern border of the Gaza Strip.
Noam Sagi hopes his mother’s language skills will help her negotiate with the hostage takers, and is calling on the international community for assistance.
