'It's terrible to live like this,' says Israeli man with 7 missing family members
Gilad Korngold's relatives — including his son and young grandchildren — are believed to be Hamas hostages
Gilad Korngold has come to dread the night time.
The Israeli man has seven missing family members believed to be taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, including his son, daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren.
During the day, he and his remaining family keep busy, doing media interviews and sharing information. There's little time to wonder if their missing loved ones are still alive, or whether the children have enough food to eat and clothes to keep them warm.
"The night is terrible. The night, it's there when we'll start to think: What's happened?" Korngold told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. "It's terrible to live like this."
Israel says Hamas snatched 222 hostages during its deadly surprise attack on Israeli communities, including children and the elderly.
Four hostages have been released so far, including an American mother and daughter who are distantly related to Korngold's daughter-in-law.
Hamas, meanwhile, says 50 of the hostages have been killed by Israeli's retaliatory airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, where they are being held. CBC is unable to verify this claim.
Among those missing are Korngold's son and daughter-in-law, Tal and Adi Shoham, both 38, their eight-year-old son Naveh and their three-year-old daughter Yahel. Also missing are Adi's mother, aunt and 12-year-old niece. Adi's father was killed.
They were all together at Adi's parents home in the Be'eri Kibbutz when Hamas attacked. The house, Korngold later learned, was burned to the ground, but no bodies were found inside.
He says one survivor of the attack told him he saw Hamas militants take his son alive and toss him into a car trunk, his hands bound behind his back with zip ties.
"I mention this in all the interviews [so] that nobody can say that he was dead," Korngold said. "They took him alive."
Meanwhile, the death toll continues to climb in this latest war between Israel and Hamas.
Israel says 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, the vast majority civilians slain in the Oct. 7 attack. Gaza's health ministry says 7,028 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip, including 2,913 children.
Israel has bombarded Gaza relentlessly over the last 20 days, while simultaneously cutting the enclave's 2.3 million residents off from food, water, fuel and medicine. The United Nations says half the population has been displaced.
Officials in the occupied West Bank say more than 100 Palestinians have been killed there.
Overnight on Monday, Israeli forces carried out its biggest ground attack on Gaza yet, as it prepares for a full ground invasion.
Korngold is worried about what might happen to his family when that day comes. He says he thinks Israel should hold off a ground invasion until Hamas releases the women, children, sick and elderly people its holding captive.
"I'm not involved in politics. I'm not involved in what the army wants to do," he said. "I want my family back."
At night, when he lets his mind wander, he says he wonders whether his grandchildren are being kept warm enough. They were only wearing their pyjamas when the militants struck, he said.
And he wonders if they are all alone. His son's family is tight-knit, he says, and the kids have never been away from their parents. He says he fears their captors may have separated the children from their mother, or brother from sister.
His grandson, Naveh, he says, is a smart boy who loves to swim and play soccer, and is obsessed with Lego and puzzles. For his last birthday, he bought the boy a massive puzzle with 2,500 pieces.
And his granddaughter, he says, loves to play with dolls, jump on the trampoline and help her mother cook.
"This is my family. This is my lost family," he said with a weary sigh. "What I know for sure is that I want my family back, and all hostages back. But my family, it's a priority for me."
With files from Reuters. Interview with Gilad Korngold produced by Kate Swoger
