Inside Stories from the Israeli Hostage Crisis | More with Marissa

hi so I uh I actually want to start by giving you a very warm welcome to the United States of America I want to let you know that we care about you that we've been thinking about you and your families since October 7th you're not alone uh I know that the media has portrayed a certain character of of of Israel and those who have suffered from from the massacre in a way that is incredibly unfair and on behalf of some of the Americans that have done that I want to apologize and let you know that I do believe that the majority of Americans are behind you and condemn terrorism and do not think that innocent victims deserve what they've experienced and when I have been spending time on social media real reading the type of horrific posts that have really attacked families that have been attacked and that are still mourning or still in a situation like yours I I'm heartbroken for you and I just I I I really want to let you know that sometimes social media will portray things that are not the masses sometimes it's the loudest but not really the majority the majority of Americans do not condone terrorism and all of us feel for you and so you are welcome here you really are welcome here and I want to hear about the stories of your families and and what you can report back from what you are seeing in Israel and what you're hearing is happening with these innocent civilians who have been taken captive so why don't we just go and get into just give me your name and just your background and and why are you here in the US who are you representing so my name is itai I represent the mundor family uh my uncle and Aunt family this is aam he's my uh Grandpa's younger brother uh he has been living in kibuts for almost 60 years now with his wife ruy and the their family suffered the attack on October 7th their son RI uh used to live in the kibuts as well in different house than theirs and he was murdered on October 7th uh on the same weekend it was a Jewish holiday it was s uh so Ken ruy and aam's daughter came along with her son Ohad who is their only grandson and the four of them uh found themselves in this horrible situation and four of them were taken captive into Gaza by Hamas three of them were released uh last Friday um WTI Ken and noad which is very happy for us but our happiness isn't complete because abam is still there and we need him back we need the grandfather of the family and my uncle we need him back with his family so everyone can be reunited together and this is why I'm here advocating for his release and for all the men who are left behind because they deserve to be free too I'm n um I'm here with my sister ofir and we're here representing itai our cousin which was kidnapped from his mother's house in kibui on October 7th um both of his parents were murdered in the kots our grandmother's caregiver was also murdered a Filipino woman not Jewish not Israeli just a young woman then moved to Israel in in order to get a new life and support her family in the Philippines and he's 38 years old he's been there for 56 days now thinking that his whole family was murdered in the attack have you heard anything from are there any signs of life is there any communication about um the hostages that are still being held we've heard about itai just a few days ago which is a very happy thing happy news um that he's alive that he wasn't injured on the way we didn't know that for more than 50 days we didn't know if he even survived the attack or was he taken already injured or maybe dead so we've heard that he's alive but we also heard a very disturbing fact that his mental state is very very very bad what do you mean by that he Witnesses his mother being murdered and that's the last thing he saw before he was taken hostage and we know that all the hostages that stayed with him were released and he was left alone just a few days ago we know that he assumes that his father was also murdered was is what is true but he also thinks that his brothers and our grandmother was murdered which they survived and in the message he asked to send his sister that he's alive and asked her to do whatever we can to take him out of there is what you know about his condition uh communicated to you through the hostages that have been released how do you how do you know these from the hostages that have been released in the past week which stayed with him yeah so you know that they've been together they've been held together we know they've been together and now he's left alone yes all the hostages that were with never been released I'm I'm curious about how they were held I mean there's a lot of um stories on the internet about how the hostages are being treated there are videos where you see some of the children walking out of the cars and kind of waving and smiling and um there are actually a lot of those videos and I'm wondering you know what is your reaction to those videos and specifically when speaking to your family members who have been released entire fam's been released how are they describing the conditions of of being held hostage there yeah so first of all as far as we know from what we heard in the videos they were told by Kamas terrorists to wave so it wasn't their uh willingness to to wave by themselves and actually on the day that my family was released it was the first day of the release you can see that the turnover from Hamas to the Red Cross was nothing like that you can see my family members terrified terrified looks on their faces when they were taken so you know for a fact that those who were waving weren't weren't waving because they wanted to wave but they were forced to and as for the conditions we know uh from what my family members told us that the conditions weren't good um they were provided very little food uh with basic food such as rice or bread from to time and we know for a fact that they lost um some weight um the kids came back with headlights uh we know that they slept on the floor or chairs like these um without any blankets um they didn't take any shower obviously for seven or more weeks and also uh if they want to go to the bathroom they had to wait for quite a while uh in order to do so or use other methods to uh to use the bathroom without actually going to the bathroom uh really difficult conditions um thankfully we know for at least my family they haven't been tortured uh when they were there uh they did suffer violence obviously on the day of the abduction on October 7 but thankfully uh there wasn't any violence during the their time in captivity and we know that they have been threatened at gunpoint to not make a lot of noise and to stay quiet and we know that they're moved from place to place so they don't even know exactly where they were under the ground over the ground and they weren't even shown at daylight even if they were over the ground uh so they were really kept um away from the outdoors were they kept in the tunnels are were the hostages basically kept in the tunnels I know they were kept also in that hospital for a while because they found evidence there so there was so there are so many hostages so of them are kept in different places so I know that my family the three of them first of all we know for a fact they're separated from Abraham we know that they weren't taken at the same time from the house in the kibuts so only for example only when Ry Karen and had returned they found out that abam is kidnapped they thought he had been murdered on October 7th but we know from other hostages that were uh released that they stayed with Alam and my the other family members stayed in a different place so it was really small from the testimonies we hear they were all in small groups so it's not like there's 200 hostages held together it's very small groups in different places move from place to place sometimes they see other people sometimes they don't um so this is what we know uh we assume it was sometimes in tunnels sometimes over the ground um we know that aam for example is kept in tunnels from uh testimonies of hostages released um and R Ken and a and sorry they're not sure exactly where where they were they don't have a sense of where they were caught they were you know constantly blinded probably exactly yeah um I'm curious about what you're hearing from some of the hostages that are being released about the conditions was there violence I know that with the older uh hostages and with the children they've been released sooner they've been released but the men are this category where anything can be done to them apparently are you hearing anything about what's being done to hostages that are being held back so uh for us we don't have a lot of information about the um condition H the te was uh the te is being held in he was held with uh uh with uh people that were released like women and kids um but we we can't say uh where he was only just like it say they have like really little food uh Supply and uh no adequate um toilet or restrooms uh they don't shower they don't have any shower and they um are also forced to whisper this is all we know can I ask you about the ceasefire it's a pretty tough question you know there is a um I don't know what you would call it a moral dilemma uh that Israel is facing which is every time hostages are negotiated for a release Hamas is expecting the release of many terrorists that are murderers that have been held in prison uh who will likely go ahead and commit murder again um and probably same crimes maybe even worse in addition to a ceasefire which Hamas is not hiding they are using it as a time to rearm and continue the attack on Israel um in return for that Israel gets to bring innocent civilians home your family members um it's a tough one uh and I think many people are asking you know what are your thoughts on this moral dilemma it's it you obviously have a close connection to these individuals and you want them home uh and you also understand that it comes with the risk that you would be attacked again and that when they grab people and hold them hostage they get something that they want I think for us as families of the hostages it's not such a tough dilemma we want our family back we want our loved ones back and I think the Israeli people we're people that choose life and we get such a big support and wide support from all Israelis um to do whatever it needs in order to bring bring the hostages back and the Israel government and Military will find a way how to keep us safe after releasing those terrorists from prison back to Gaza or back to the West Bank so I think that you know it needs to do whatever it needs in order to bring itai and dlam and all other 40 hostages that are still there and we know now they're alive we know we know about itai that just a few days ago he was alive but that's not Ure not even an hour later we don't know what happened an hour later and we don't know what happened today and what happened it's what going to happen tomorrow so we know that releasing those hostages and bringing them back alive we don't have time for that and and it can be postponed but dealing with Hamas could be and it should be the first priority to bring them alls now while they're alive and before it would be too late cuz their time is we're running out of time you know it's the the hostages that have been taken uh come from multiple different nationalities I know there are more than a dozen Americans also many religions I I I know that there are Muslims who have been taken captive uh there are Christians who have been taken captive um I think it really says a lot about Israel that they're willing to do so much to save the lives of these innocent hostages even at the grave cost of of what it might do to Israel and you know itai I'm curious what your reaction is to that again we value life we will do whatever it takes to save lives and if we have the opportunity to bring hostages back alive regardless of the religion we will do that and I think the support not just of of the families but the support in the Israeli public is so great for that and this is why it happened and we if we have the opportunity again to do it to release all other hostages we will will do that no matter what the price will be we will find Solutions on how to deal with Terror this is what we've been doing throughout our life throughout Israel's existence we've been dealing with Terror but now if we have the opportunity to bring hostages back we will release prisoners or terrorists uh even with the threat that they might hurt us in the future um but I think this is this says a lot about Israel and about the Israeli people we value life we if we have the option to save lives we will do that I'm not GNA ask you how you're doing because I know you're doing pretty crappy um but I'd like to ask you a final question and that is what is your message to the world there's a a huge Spotlight right now on Israel there's attacks on Israel and there is support and love for Israel uh the world is watching what do you have to say to the world I he just final comments that um people um need to separate the Israeli uh Palestinian conflict um they need to separate separate it from the hostage situation because this is a humanitarian crisis this is not about Israel it's not about Palestinian um it's not it's not about that it's about human rights it's about living in a world that civilians cannot being be taken out of their houses and being held in captivity for two months um this is a fight of the liberal world because this is a war crime and if we and when I say we I mean the whole world will not draw a thick line when war crimes are being made in what what world will it be and I come here today and I came to LA to the US to ask people to support this fight because whoever thinks of him of themsel as a human rights activist or even a just a believer needs to support it and if we if this will uh put a new standard for Terror because it will not end in Israel this could have happened in New York it could have happened in Berlin in Paris in La everywhere and this Terror and hate will spread around and also the things that have been happening ever since October 7th it's a whole different war against hate and it's not anti-Semitism it's hate because we already learned so much about um the power of hate and the fact that it has no limits it starts with anti-Semitism but it goes around everywhere and we learned it from the Holocaust in the second uh World War and it's happening again and we need to to notice notice this situation to say hey we're we're not up for this this is not something that um is being accepted in the new world in the liberal world in the Democratic World Nama any final words I I look at you young woman uh had a little bit of a discussion about feminism and what it's like to defend women I know there were women that were raped kidnapped um and treated horribly any final words for of inspiration and hope for a better world I think that talking about women it's outrageous to see the response of all the so-called uh feminist organizations and humanitarian so-called humanitarian organizations that actually are just uneducated and you know people have been denying the Holocaust um through all the history but this event occured two months ago and it was all streamed live by the terrorists of Hamas they streamed it proudly as if it's something to be proud of and somehow the world has the has the face to deny as if it happened people are are are sharing their trauma cuz they understand how important this is and it's very easy I understand for young people that consider thems like very Progressive and liberal and um cares about human rights to support so-called the weak side but if they would understand and if they would learn what the weak side is they would understand that the weak side is also the civilians in Gaza and also Israel against Hamas and the civilian of Gaza are hostages and suffering from Kamas just as itai and Dam and all the other hostages are they are suffering from a terror organization Kamas is not a Democratic party it's not a government it's not something they could be rely on and they should search uh you know search for for the videos that people that manag to escape Gaza say and the w in the testimonies they they they give about living in Gaza under Kamas UMAS support the support's um term and and that's some something that people just don't understand they don't understand this is a terror organization and just as Isis started in the Middle East and spread it all around in a very short timeas carries the same idea ideology it's not only against Israel it's not only against Jews it's against whoever is not Kamas also Muslims that are not Kamas they're against their own people that are not supporting Kamas and as a said it's in Israel today it tomorrow could be in La it could be in New York it could be in Berlin it can be in London can be in Paris could be in the most beautiful places on Earth that could be destroyed just in a few hours same as the southern part of Israel well I'll end with a few words hopefully words of encouragement and that is I believe that Americans know good from Evil and that most of us believe that those who love God hate evil which is why we are behind you and we'll continue to pray for you and for your families and for safety and peace and may they all come home healthy thank you for coming in thank you than you