Israeli Father Offers to Take Place of Family Being Held by Hamas

An Israeli father who reportedly saw his wife and children taken by Hamas fighters wept as he appealed for their lives to be spared and begged the militants to take him instead.

Yoni Asher told multiple news outlets that his wife, Doron had traveled with their two young daughters, 4-year-old Raz and 2-year-old Aviv, to visit her mom in Nir Oz, not far from Gaza, over the weekend.

On Saturday, Asher said he received a terrifying phone call from his wife who told him that men had stormed into the home. She said that the family was hiding in a safe room before he lost contact with her when she hung up to stay silent.

Later, Asher said his wife's phone went unanswered. He said that he later saw footage showing his wife, their girls, and his mother-in-law among a group of people being loaded onto the back of a truck.

Israel and Palestine have been engaged in a territorial dispute for decades over land that has historical and religious significance for both sides. Scores of people were taken by Hamas on Saturday as the Palestinian militant group launched a surprise rocket attack against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war against Hamas and launched a series of air strikes over the weekend, including one that destroyed a high-rise apartment building in Gaza.

As of Sunday night, at least 700 people had been killed in Israel and more than 400 killed in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

In an interview with American outlet News Nation, Asher said: "During the morning, I contact[ed] my wife, and she told me on the phone that there are terrorists inside the house. The two babies and my wife, the entire family, the most precious thing you have, is captive."

He fought back tears and covered his face with his hand. In a breaking voice, he added: "I want to ask of Hamas: don't hurt them. Don't hurt little children, don't hurt women. If you want me instead, I'm willing to come."

Asher, a 37-year-old real estate consultant from Ganot Hadar in central Israel, also spoke to The New Yorker and said: "I'll leave no rock unturned until we're reunited."

Describing the moment he saw the proof of his family's abduction, he said: "Friends sent me a video from social media confirming something I'd wished to never see. The terrorists had kidnapped them. My wife, daughters, and mother-in-law were in the back of a metal cart, being taken hostage.

"One of the terrorists was trying to cover my wife's hair with a cloth, but the moment I saw the video I had no doubt it was them," he said. "I'm trying everything I can to raise awareness about my family's case and to help bring them home as soon as possible."

He said he hadn't eaten or slept since he saw the footage on Saturday.

Wall Street Journal reporter Thomas Grove posted on X, formerly Twitter, that a neighbor had helped Asher track his wife's cell phone, which showed its location as being within the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida made a statement over the weekend, saying that the group had "dozens of captive officers and soldiers" who had now "been secured in safe places and in the resistance tunnels" in the Gaza Strip.

The deputy chief of Hamas' political wing, Saleh al-Arouri, told news outlet Al Jazeera that the number of Israeli hostages that Hamas had captured was enough to ensure the release of all Palestinian fighters in Israeli custody if there were to be an exchange.

But the Israelis insisted that soldiers were not the only ones taken; "women, children, elderly, disabled" civilians were "dragged into Gaza" in "unprecedented" numbers, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said on Saturday.

A "significant number of Israelis," both civilians and military personnel, were being held by Hamas in Gaza, Conricus added. United States citizens are also among those feared to have been taken hostage, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.