Israeli Mother’s Agonising Last Call During Hamas Attack: ‘I Was with Her on Phone, Couldn’t Do Nothing’ – News18

Ever since the horrific October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, countless stories of love, loss, and hope have emerged. One of the most horrifying tales that emerged last week was of an Israeli music festival where Hamas fighters killed at least 260 people and took captives back into Gaza.

The Tribe of Nova festival, held in the semi-wooded fields, just a few miles from Gaza, was one of the first Hamas targets. Videos show militants arriving on trucks and motorcycles, with gunmen charging into crowds and firing on people as they tried to flee into the fields.

While speaking with Sky News, Meirav Leshem Gonen shared the chilling last moments of contact with her 23-year-old daughter Romi Gonen during the harrowing events at the Supernova dance festival. The call Gonen had with her daughter believed to have been killed or taken hostage by Hamas terrorists has been revealed in harrowing audio clips.

The distressing phone conversation lasted about four agonising hours, capturing the despair and helplessness of the situation. As rockets filled the sky, Romi could be heard pleading for help while the sound of heavy gunfire surrounded her. Meirav described her anguish, saying, “I was with her on the phone and couldn’t do nothing. It’s so frustrating, hearing your kid suffering, afraid.”

Romi’s mother revealed that her daughter hid in the bushes for hours while still on the phone. “Everything is OK, my beauty. I’m with you,” Gonen said as heavy gunfire erupted in the background and shortly after that the call ended abruptly. In those final moments, amid the sound of gunfire, Romi’s voice echoed, “Hello, mummy,” before the line went silent, leaving her fate hanging in uncertainty.

Gonen, with a heavy heart, disclosed the grim reality she faces, as her daughter’s cell phone remains in Gaza, and Romi’s friends did not survive the ordeal. “We don’t know if she’s alive, if she’s dead, we know her cell phone is in Gaza.”

Israeli authorities are grappling with the uphill task of identifying the dismembered bodies, requiring the painstaking assembly of remains like pieces of a horrifying puzzle. Hamas is believed to be holding between 150-200 people, including women children, and the elderly.

Despite being in a precarious situation, Gonen stressed the “need to be united against this” and has made calls for a humanitarian corridor to be opened from Egypt to Gaza for the treatment of hostages. “The thing that I’m worried about is that Hamas will be able to divide us and I think that’s the worst thing that can happen,” she said.