Abbey Onn, an American whose family has been living in Israel for eight years, said several of her loevd ones were brutally abducted by Hamas, a terror group that invaded Israel over the weekend snatching up men, women and children as hostages.
During an appearance on Fox & Friends First Tuesday morning, Onn said one of her missing family members is a 12-year-old – the same age as her own child. Onn said the family later saw a video of the 12-year-old being dragged away by a Hamas terrorist, describing the situation as a "parent’s worst nightmare" and adding that she is "heartbroken."
"I feel heartbroken," Onn told host Carley Shimkus. "I have a child the same age in the other room. It is any parent’s worst nightmare. It is inconceivable that this is happening in this day, in this time in Israel."
"As an American that is here [in Israel]… I feel proud to be an American and Israeli. I want people to understand this isn’t political. These are humans. These are people’s grandparents and children, and husbands and wives."
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Onn said her 80-year-old cousin, Carmela Dan, was taken alongside her son-in-law and three of her grandchildren who were living with her at the time. They were later identified as Ofer Kalderon, 50, Sahar Kalderon, 16, Erez Kalderon, 16, and Noya Dan, 12.
Onn said she called her family members that were living near the Gaza border just moments before Hamas terrorists invaded the area and surrounded their apartment.
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"We woke up Saturday to sirens and began communicating with family members in the south and very quickly had learned that Hamas had entered the country on foot, and in many other ways, and that there were thousands of terrorists," Onn said, noting she later heard news reports that the building where her family was staying had been burned and destroyed.
"We understood terrorists were in the house. They could hear gunfire and we lost contact with them," she added. "It was a day later that we saw a video of our 12-year-old cousin in the hands of Hamas."
Onn said she was trying her best to "stay optimistic" but said she was aware of Hamas’ threats to start executing hostages.
"We’re doing everything we can to work with the [U.S.] government and the State Department. I have amazing friends and family who are making sure we are following the protocol, but I am listening to the news and hear what is being said about the release of hostages. I am trying my best to stay optimistic and believe that there will be some kind of diplomatic solution to this."
She added: "I am going to hold out hope until there isn’t any."
Hamas is believed to have taken more than 130 hostages since their surprise attack on Saturday morning. Subsequent rockets fired into Israel from Gaza killed at least 1,000 Israelis with more than 2,000 wounded.
The rocket attacks targeted several different cities, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
