WATCH: 'I want to know where my Roni is'

“I want to know where my Roni is,” cries Sharon Eshel, mother of the nineteen-year-old soldier who was serving in the IDF base at Nahal Oz when it was attacked by Hamas terrorists on Saturday, October 7.  Roni has not been heard from since that dark day ten days ago.

Maayan Hoffman, Deputy CEO-Strategy and Innovation of the Jerusalem Post Group, and Zvika Klein, Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Jewish World analyst, spoke with Eyal and Sharon, Roni’s parents, who expressed their anguish and pain at not knowing her whereabouts. 

“On Saturday, she was in the command post on the base,” her parents say. “We last heard from her at 9:30 a.m. She texted me a message saying, ‘Mom, don’t worry, I am in the command post.’ I replied, ‘Be safe – I love you,’ and she texted me in reply, ‘Don’t worry, I am ok. I love you too’ with four heart emojis. That was the last we heard from her.

"She is a wonderful child, and we love her so much," they said. "We don’t know where she is, and no one knows where she is. Perhaps she was abducted, or perhaps it was something else. The army has declared that she is officially missing.” 

Roni’s parents explain that Hamas attacked the command post at noon. “Some of the soldiers escaped through a window, some were kidnapped, and some were pronounced dead. But we know nothing about Roni.

“What happened on Saturday was a massacre and a genocide. Hamas murdered women, children, babies, and the elderly.

We need proof that she is alive,” declared Sharon. "I want to know where my child is."

The Jerusalem Post and OneFamily are working together to help support the victims of the Hamas massacre and the soldiers of Israel who have been drafted to ensure that it never happens again. 

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