ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
SIX MONTHS IN
WHEN SHAY BENJAMIN'S FATHER RON WENT MISSING on October 7, she cried for 15 hours straight.
She was in Dubai, returning from a vacation in the Philippines, when a flurry of cellphone messages alerted her to the unfolding events in Israel on October 7 last year.
A keen sportsman, Ron, 53, from Rehovot, had gone that morning for a group bicycle ride by the Gaza border, near Kibbutz Be'eri. The cascade of rockets he heard above him prompted him to leave a voice message for his daughter at around 6:30 a.m. to say that he was fine but would head back home.
"I was a bit scared but I thought it's just another round of missiles and rockets - unfortunately we are used to that in Israel," Shay told Newsweek.
But she knew something was awry when her call to him 15 minutes later went unanswered. He would always pick up the phone to her, even when in an important meeting.
Shay, 25, made calls to her mother and her sister. Maybe Ron simply had no connectivity or was just hiding from the Hamas militants, she thought.
Distinct from the fierce debate about the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust and the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that followed, are the human stories of the 253 Israelis and foreigners captured in the Hamas attacks which killed around 1,200 people. On November 24, 81 Israeli citizens and 24 foreign national hostages were released during a week-long ceasefire. As part of the deal, Israel released three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage allowed to leave Gaza. But Israel says there are still 134 people being held in Gaza - not all of them alive.
'It's Hard When I'm Going to Sleep'
Shay recounted how she felt when the full scope of the terrorist attacks became apparent as she waited in her hotel room for her connecting flight home. "I cried the whole time."
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
