A Muslim family has appealed to Hamas terrorists to release a 17-year-old girl snatched along with her father and two brothers.
Aisha Ziadna was working in a dairy with her dad Yosef, 53, Bilal, 18, and Hamza, 23, when Hamas invaded on October 7, killing more than 1,200 and kidnapping 240.
Her family invited the Mail into their home at Rahat in the Negev desert about 60 miles south from Tel Aviv and just a few minutes’ drive from the border with Gaza.
The family – who are Bedouins and Israeli citizens – have worked at dairy at the Hulit kibbutz for decades.
Aisha Ziadna was working in a dairy with her dad Yosef, 53, Bilal, 18, and Hamza, 23, when Hamas invaded on October 7, killing more than 1,200 and kidnapping 240
Aisha’s uncle Ali Ziadna, 58, told the Mail: ‘At first we thought they may have been killed and their bodies burnt because of the devastation but then the Israeli army contacted us to say they were alive and being held in Gaza’
The family’s home at Rahat in the Negev desert is about 60 miles south from Tel Aviv and just a few minutes’ drive from the border with Gaza
During the October 7 attack at the kibbutz terrorists killed 11 people – including two Americans – and snatched several people as hostages.
The kibbutz became famous as it was the scene of a 17-hour tank battle by an all-female Israeli crew who saved dozens of lives as they fought of the Hamas thugs.
Aisha’s uncle Ali Ziadna, 58, told the Mail: ‘At first we thought they may have been killed and their bodies burnt because of the devastation but then the Israeli army contacted us to say they were alive and being held in Gaza.
‘They showed us footage from traffic cameras, and we recognised them as they were being taken away – and now we just want them back.
‘The family are Muslims. Hamas must know they are Muslims – why have they taken them? It just doesn’t make any sense.’
Ali Ziadna said: ‘They showed us footage from traffic cameras, and we recognised them as they were being taken away – and now we just want them back’
Aisha’s father Yosef, 53. Yousef has two wives and 18 children
Aisha’s brother Hamza, 23, who was also kidnapped during the October 7 attack
Aisha’s brother Bilal, 18, who was also taken on October 7, when Hamas invaded, killing more than 1,200 and kidnapping 240
Sitting in front of his simple home, with a canopy over the front as shade from the fierce sun, Ali added: ‘It’s the waiting that is the hardest. We have been waiting for almost two months with no news.
‘We just have to hope that the ceasefire continues and they come back as quickly as possible. Yosef is diabetic and needs medicine, how do we know he is getting insulin?’
The family’s home is at the end of a dirt track that slices through the desert, and across the featureless flat landscape the Gaza strip can just been seen on the horizon.
Rubbish litters the road and minarets tower at Rahat showing the Arabic influence of the town and it is the largest Bedouin urban area in the world.
Yousef has two wives and 18 children. Aisha had only recently got engaged and Ali said she was ‘the apple of her father’s eye’.
Offering traditional Arabic coffee to the Mail and dates, Ali added: ‘We later saw photos of terrorists with guns standing over them. It terrified us to see.
‘I just don’t know why Muslims would do this to other Muslims, let alone any other human beings.
‘There is a ceasefire, and they should have been released. I just don’t know why they haven’t been.
‘The family is Muslim and probably praying with the Hamas terrorists so they should know they are the same religion and should free them.
‘Now there is talk of the ceasefire stopping in the next few days. We need them back home as soon as possible.
‘Israel and the rest of the world must do all it can. Many have returned last few days but why have they not returned?
‘I’m happy for those that have been reunited with their families, but we want to have some joy as well.
‘My mother hasn’t stopped crying – the whole village is crying. If I don’t get news soon I will go to Gaza myself to fight the terrorists and bring them home.
Ali added: ‘We later saw photos of terrorists with guns standing over them. It terrified us to see’
The bedouin village near Rihat, Israel, where the family live
Ali said: ‘We just have to hope that the ceasefire continues and they come back as quickly as possible. Yosef is diabetic and needs medicine, how do we know he is getting insulin?’
Ali Ziadna and family members of the family
‘They loved working at the kibbutz and were friends with everyone there, they had dinner and swam together, it was one big family.’
Retired policeman Ali said: ‘The whole family are believers, and they pray every day. Hamas must recognise this. They deserve mercy as do all the other hostages.
‘My brother and his family are just simple labourers. They were doing their job – they weren’t there to fight.
‘What the terrorists of Hamas did contradicts Islam. Islam is against killing. This has nothing to do with religion.’
Aisha along with ten-month-old Kfir Bibas, and his brother Ariel, four, are believed to be the only children still being held by Hamas.
Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, George Deek, said: ‘It is evident that, unlike the other children and young girls. Aisha is not being released by Hamas because it is ashamed to admit that is also kidnapped Muslims.
‘Her case must remain in the spotlight because it shows that Hamas’s contempt for human lives is more important than religious solidarity.’