Israeli woman begs Hamas to release family members missing for 1 month
Efrat Machikawa, whose family members were kidnapped by Hamas last month, voices her concerns and experiences as the war between Israel and the terrorist organization reaches the one-month mark.
An Israeli woman is desperate to get her family members home one month after Hamas terrorists launched deadly surprise attacks and kidnapped innocent civilians.
"One month has passed, but emotionally I feel like it's one long day," Efrat Machikawa told "FOX & Friends First" on Tuesday.
"We are not sleeping, and we worry, and we keep thinking, ‘Where are they? Are they well? Are they being fed? Do they have enough water?’ What if they're deep inside those tunnels and those monsters that took them … because obviously these are not people, these terror monsters, the way they took them."
A wall displays pictures of people being held hostage in Gaza, Oct. 26, 2023, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Dan Kitwood / Getty Images)
Machikawa last heard from her family last month when she called her aunt, who whispered to her that something was very wrong and was unable to speak.
"I just told her, 'So, let's not speak. You're in the safe room. You will be safe, and I love you.' And we just said how much we love each other, and that was the last talk," she said.
Machikawa has also not heard from her uncle and three of her cousins since that day.
CHILD HOSTAGES FROM ISRAEL CENTER OF MOBILE AD WAR AT WOKE CAMPUSES ACROSS AMERICA
Tuesday marks one month since Hamas launched a surprise offensive against Israel, raiding people's homes and preying upon event-goers at an Israeli music festival.
Romi Gonen was on the phone with her parents just before being taken hostage by Hamas militants. She and a friend hid in bushes away from the carnage and waited for a friend to pick them up.
When he did, disaster struck again.
Romi's two friends sat in the front seat as they drove away from the festival, but the two were eventually murdered. Romi, who sat in the back seat, was shot in the hand.
Palestinian Hamas terrorists are seen during a military show, July 20, 2017, in Gaza City. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
"All of this was live on the phone," Eitan Gonen, Romi's father, told "FOX & Friends." "Romi was crying. She told us that she's going to die. We were comforting her … and this was for 45 minutes until the terrorists came to the car and spoke. We suddenly heard an Arab language on the phone and then the phone call was interrupted."
Gonen said the Arabic from the phone call was translated days later.
They said, "She is alive. Let us take her."
Gonen and his wife, Meirav, are now in the U.S. to help spread the word that the story of terror is real.
"This is a real story. We didn't fake it. My daughter, along with 241 others, are kept kidnapped in Gaza," he said.
"All I want is my lovely, my beautiful Romi to be released as soon as possible to my widespread arms."
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