Hostage family members grapple with the aftermath of abduction

"It’s relief. That’s the problem,” said Moran Aloni when reflecting on the feeling he got when he learned that nearly his entire family had been abducted by the Hamas terror organization on October 7.

Six members of his family were taken captive. Word of their survival came just about one week later, on October 13.

“We felt relief just because we know the other option,” Aloni said.

Aloni’s family had driven in from Yavne for the weekend to celebrate Simchat Torah in Nir Oz on October 7, when Hamas terrorists overran Israel’s southern border with tractors, came in with paragliders and sailed in by sea. They entered the kibbutz community and began executing scenes that most people thought existed only in horror films.

A horror scene

Aloni’s two sisters, Danielle and Sharon, along with their children, were taken hostage. Sharon and her husband, David Cunio, were kept in captivity together for some time, but were ultimately separated when global negotiations were able to retrieve female hostages and children.

While Moran Aloni received both of his sisters and their children back home, there’s no celebration for their release from 52 days in captivity. Cunio remains hostage. When it was time for his wife and two daughters, Yuli and Emma, to depart, Cunio’s final request to them was to work their hardest to get him out.

“When it happened, he said to her ‘I am afraid, I am scared, and I am begging you to fight for me if you get out,” Moran said. “I think about this scene and then seeing my sister in her current state. It breaks me.”

Aloni said despite his brother-in-law being a big-time optimist, he was very sure that he would not be included in the hostage deal, because he is a man.

“I got so lucky having him as my brother-in-law,” Aloni said.

Aloni’s other sister, Danielle, is a single mom with a little girl named Emilia. The two of them came home first, and while Aloni wanted to be happy, the four interim days of waiting for Sharon and her little ones were excruciating.

“It was really agonizing days because I just didn’t know how to handle it. Obviously, we were around her, and then four days later when my sister came back.... I allowed myself to exhale the breath that I took 30 days before that happened,” Aloni said.

Aloni worries not only for his family, but also for his brother-in-law’s brother and girlfriend, who were also taken captive during the ordeal. The men are still in captivity.

Danielle and Sharon Aloni had somewhat different experiences during captivity. Danielle told her brother she believes her captors went easier on the pair due to Emilia’s age. The young five-year-old daughter (soon to be six in January) was clearly just an innocent child. Although Sharon, too, had children, their treatment seemed to be harsher.

“My sister said that even if they [Hamas captors] speak to you and are laughing with you from time to time... they told her in these words before she was returned: ‘When you’re going home, if you can, run. Leave the country because we will come back and we will take what’s ours,’” Aloni reported.

Aloni says both of his sisters are terrified that someone will come and hurt them. He referred to it as psychological torture and shared that they truly believe they are being tracked and watched by Hamas.

Sharon faced grueling conditions during the first 10 days, unsure of her daughter Emma’s fate. The mother of twins was kept only with her husband and one of her three-year-old twin daughters, Yuli. Now back home, the little ones exhibit signs of trauma, waking up screaming at night.

The family’s struggle doesn’t end with their return. Sharon’s home was destroyed on October 7; and after enduring nearly two months of captivity and discomfort, the family cannot return to it. She also finds herself frozen in fear as she grapples with the knowledge that her Cunio is still held captive.

The twins’ psychological scars are manifested in their reactions to everyday noises and especially rocket-warning sirens, which trigger intense fear.

Danielle grapples with the aftermath of the abduction. Despite financial support from the state and various organizations, the process of rebuilding their lives is challenging. She has returned to work, although Moran Aloni thinks it’s too soon.

“I can’t tell you if she’s doing this because she sees herself moving forward, or if it’s a sense of running from something,” he said.

The family spends every Friday night setting up empty seats and settings at the family’s Shabbat table, a constant reminder of the loved one still held captive.