Ruminations: Abduction of the Innocents by Hamas Terrorists

"She told me terrorists had infiltrated [her mother's home in southern Israel near the Gaza border] the home."
"The phone got disconnected."
"No one spoke to me [no response when he called authorities for help]."
"No one contacted me. I called the police, I called the Home Front Command, the local councils."
Yoni Asher, Israel

"He called my mother at 7:45 a.m. and told her there were rockets, that they have started running and that he loves her."
"Since then, we have not been able to reach him."
Geur Harari, sister of Almog Meir Jan, missing from outdoor music festival

"I cannot even start to imagine how scared and uncomfortable she was."
"She doesn't have a lot of time without her medicine."
Adva Adar, granddaughter of abducted Israeli woman

Shiri and her two children being taken away

Shiri and her two young children being taken away by Hamas terrorists Telegram

Yoni Godard, 22, woke early Saturday morning and realized there was trouble. He pulled a bandana over his face and went walking through Be'eri -- an Israeli Kibbutz, population 1,000 in the northwest Negev desert close to the eastern border with the Gaza Strip -- toward his parents' house. On the way a gun was pointed at him but he wasn't shot and Godard believes the bandana saved him; the terrorist was unable to make out whether he was one of them.

As he walked through the kibbutz, he saw bodies lying in the street, people shot to death, and then he arrived at his parents' home, 70 year-old Many Godard and 60 year-old Ayelet Godard. "Everything was burned and destroyed", his parents nowhere to be seen. He hid there, in the home until late afternoon when the Israeli military arrived. His parents are still among the missing.

Erez (L) and Sahar (R) are among the members of one family who were abducted from the Nir Oz kibbutz Ido Dan

Yoni Asher's wife, Doron Asher Katz, 34, has become another of an unknown number of Israelis taken hostage after the Hamas terrorist invasion of southern Israel. Online videos proudly posted by the Hamas publicity arm show armed men marching, dragging Jewish men and women through the streets, some of whom are elderly, some of them bloodied. Exactly how many Israelis have been taken hostage is still a matter of speculation.

Following hours of frantic calls, Asher tracked his wife's phone to Khan Yunis, a city in Gaza. He had seen his wife and their daughters, three and five years of age, huddled at gunpoint with other hostages on a flatbed in the back of a vehicle, in a video circulating online. Because his wife also has German citizenship he contacted German authorities for help. There are so many missing people, there are so many areas that Israeli forces and authorities must tend to, the issue of hostages, while a priority, and an emotional pinnacle of anguish, has overwhelmed resources.

Doron Asher Katz, 34, was visiting her mother in Nir Oz near the Gaza border with their two daughters, aged two and four, when Hamas attacked

Several countries other than Israel speak of their own citizens being held captive; eleven Thailand nationals were captured, and there are Americans and Canadians among the hostages. Faces of missing people posted by frantic relatives trying to find information of their whereabouts have been posted on Instagram and other channels. Many of those missing were among the youth attending an outdoor music festival.

Almog Meir Jan, was one of them, aged 21, and recently completed his army service. His family later identified him, seen alive in a clip on the Telegram messaging service posted by the Hamas public relations team. Young men were shown on footage, illuminated by a bright light, cowering on the floor, hands behind their backs, attempting to shield their faces from the glare.

Adva Adar's grandmother, Yaffa Adar, 85 of Nir Oz is missing. Her grandmother 's house was found burned down and vacant, discovered by the Israeli military. Adva saw videos on Facebook posted by Hamas of her grandmother, sitting on a golf cart, clutching a pink blanket.