Brother of Hamas hostage near Lanz
“We will not surrender”
By Marko Schlichting
October 20, 2023, 4:20 a.m
Gili Roman and comes from Israel. His sister is believed to be one of the hostages of the terrorist organization Hamas. With Markus Lanz he reports how his kibbutz was attacked by Hamas – and why he hopes for help from the federal government.
Gili Roman seems composed. On Thursday evening he will be a guest on the ZDF show “Markus Lanz”. What he says there is incredible. It is the story of his sister, who has probably been a hostage of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas for almost two weeks. His story is representative of the many Israeli families whose relatives were deported to the Gaza Strip by Hamas.
Roman lives with his family in Be’eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the border with the Gaza Strip. His family had just returned from a three-week vacation in South Africa and was hosting relatives. It is October 6th, the eve of Hamas’ attack on Israel, the start of a long weekend. Israelis celebrate Simchat Torah, an exuberant and joyful festival.
Gili Roman tells Lanz about the Hamas attack on his hometown.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa)
Roman’s sister Yarden also came, along with her husband Alon and their three-year-old daughter Gefen. She had only recently left the kibbutz, afraid of the rockets from the Gaza Strip, the wailing of sirens and the constant flight to the bomb shelter. But on this Friday evening everything is fine. You eat, drink, celebrate. Just a few hours later, horror struck the kibbutz.
“One in ten people in our kibbutz was killed”
In the morning the sirens wail. The residents of Be’eri rush into the bunkers again. But this time they offer them no protection. Palestinian terrorists enter the kibbutz and kill around a hundred people. “One in ten people in our kibbutz was killed,” says Roman. Also his mother-in-law. The terrorists break into her house and force the woman outside the door. Gili Ramon later finds her body there, shot. There is no trace of his sister’s family. Shortly before the terrorists invaded, Gili Roman had chatted with her on Whatsapp. “Your daughter had forgotten her teddy bear,” says Roman, he tried to comfort her.
Yarden is believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Roni Romann)
When he was able to leave his air raid shelter, he was confronted with a horrific scene: burning houses, dead people everywhere. Days later, people are still being brought out of their hiding places. Roman tells the story of a little boy who hid with his mother and a relative with dementia for three days.
“Four soldiers ran after them”
Gili Roman later finds out from his brother-in-law Alon what happened to his sister’s family. The two married couples and their little daughter are forced into a car by soldiers, which then drives towards the Gaza Strip. When it has to stop because of a tank, the three take the chance to escape. “They jumped out of the car and tried to run into the forest. The soldiers noticed this. Four of them ran after them and shot at them. My sister realized that she couldn’t run fast enough and gave the sweetest thing she could had, her husband. That was her daughter. The two were inseparable.”
Alon and little Gefen are hiding in the forest. For ten hours, without food, without water, without a cell phone. Then they return home. There is no trace of Gili Roman’s sister Yarden. Gili Roman says he spent days looking for clues. But without success. Nevertheless, he has hope: “We didn’t find any blood either. That’s why we are firmly convinced that Yarden is still alive and in the Gaza Strip,” he says.
Now he is hoping for help from the federal government. Because Gili Roman and his sister are German citizens. Her grandparents fled to Palestine in 1938 to escape the Nazi persecution of Jews. “My grandparents were proud of being German and of German culture. They passed that on to us,” he says. “And that’s why Germany must join us in the effort to rescue and bring back the hostages.”
Roman is horrified by the attack by Hamas terrorists. He spent his life fighting for peace and understanding in the region. He ran an international school where students from Israel, Palestine and all over the world were taught together. “Now the discussion about peace between Israel and Palestine is hardly possible,” says Roman. And he is sure: “They (Hamas) will not defeat us. And if they kill ten thousand Israeli soldiers – we will not show the White Flag. We will not surrender.”