A ‘living hell’: Survivor of Oct. 7 attack, father of hostage reflect as conflict approaches one year

Catholic Filipino caretaker Camille Jesalva poses with her client, Israeli Nitza Hefetz, 95, in the Nofim Home for Seniors in Jerusalem Sept. 29, 2024. Jesalva pleaded with Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nirim on Oct. 7, 2023, giving them her cell phone and money to get them to leave without killing her. (OSV News photo/Debbie Hill)(OSV News photo/Debbie Hill)

JERUSALEM (OSV News) — The celebration of the Jewish New Year this Oct. 2-4 took place just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeland just after a new act of violence by the terrorist organization that left seven more people dead and 16 injured in Tel Aviv Oct. 1. Israeli police and emergency services described it as a “combined shooting and stabbing attack” on people taking public transportation.

Almost 100 families still await news of their loved ones who continue to be held hostage in the Gaza Strip after being abducted last year. Among those taken on Oct. 7, 2023, is Sagui, the 35-year-old American-Israeli who is the son of Jonathan Dekel-Chen. Sagui was wounded and kidnapped by Hamas as he joined Kibbutz Nir Oz’s emergency squad to defend the small southern agricultural community from onslaught. At the end of the day, 1,200 people were murdered throughout 45 communities, and 250 people were kidnapped, including women and children.

Life in the aftermath of October 7​

Continued below.