Freed hostage Mia Leimberg performs duet with Aviv Geffen

When Mia Leimberg, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, was freed last month, she astonished the world as she clutched her pet dog, Bella, whom she had kept with her all that time. Now Leimberg, a 17-year-old student in the music track at the Jerusalem High School for the Arts, has accomplished another feat: Singing a duet with pop star Aviv Geffen.

Leimberg was kidnapped with her mother, Gabriela Leimberg; her aunt, Clara Marman; her uncle, Fernando Marman; and Louis Har, her aunt’s partner, from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, on October 7.

On November 28, Mia, her mother, and her aunt were released, while Fernando and Louis remain in Hamas captivity. Following her release, Leimberg said she hid Bella when she was first taken captive and managed to keep her safe throughout the ordeal.

Geffen and Leimberg’s video for the song, which is titled “Black Sunrise,” opens with the moment Leimberg stepped out of a Hamas-driven van to be handed over to the Red Cross, and armed Hamas terrorists confronted her, apparently wanting to know what she was doing with a dog. Mia appears to tell them the dog is hers and walks on.

Recording the music video

The video shifts to Geffen and Leimberg in the studio. Geffen sings, “The seventh of October, 2023, and since then, we are counting days/We will never be the same people.” He continues, singing about the surprise attack on that day, in which more than 1200 were killed and 240 were kidnapped.

Leimberg joins him on the chorus, singing, “Young boys and young girls and death that chases them far away/Searching for the highway and for God/Children who woke up in the morning/Will no longer play in the yard/And since then, this goes with us and won’t leave/And nothing goes away.” The song continues, with verses about the suffering of the hostages and their families, and words of support for the soldiers fighting in Gaza.

At the end of the song, Geffen and Leimberg hug, and Leimberg is shown holding her beloved dog.

In an interview with Keshet 12 News, Leimberg said she hesitated at first before agreeing to collaborate with Geffen, out of respect for those who were killed and those who are still being held – there are more than 120 hostages still in captivity in Gaza – but eventually decided to accept his offer. She said she hoped that the song would continue to keep the hostages’ plight on people’s minds.

On their first day working together in the studio, Geffen posted a hand-written sign saying, “No dogs allowed.” Leimberg said she laughed when she saw it and told the Keshet interviewer, “Without a sense of humor, we’d all go crazy.”

Leimberg recently returned to her high school and was welcomed back with a joyful song sung by the entire school.

Returning to her regular life has been a challenge, she said. “It was very strange because it really feels like a different universe. It feels so strange.”

Her classmates have been respectful of this difficult and emotional transition for her, and she said she decided that her “approach to this whole thing, especially because there are still people there, is – I want to leave it there.” She said she hoped the government would bring back everyone who is still held there soon. “When everyone comes back, then we’ll talk,” she said.

For now, she is letting the song do her talking for her.