Take me instead: Grieving dad pleads for release of wife, daughters taken hostage by Hamas

In the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, an Israeli mother and her two daughters are among the hundreds of civilians held hostage by militants. Hamas invaded Israel on Oct 7morning through land and air, killing and capturing hundreds of Israelis.

Doron Asher, the mother of the two young girls, had gone with her girls to visit their grandmother in the village of Nir Oz near the Gaza border over the weekend when Hamas militants descended on the home, as per Reuters.

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Doron called her husband, Yoni, who was in central Israel and was terrified over the call when she told him that the “terrorists are in the house.” After this, the phone was cut and Yoni hasn’t heard from her since.

On tracking Doron’s phone, Yoni found that her location showed her being across the border in Gaza.

Later, a video surfaced online in which Doron was clearly seen with her daughters being held at gunpoint in a cart along with other hostages in Hamas.

Relatives scan through graphic videos from Gaza to find missing

Many graphic videos of Israelis are being shared on X by pro-Hamas attack users and others. Relatives of missing Israelis have to go through these bloody videos to find their loved ones in hopes that they are alive. Yoni also saw her wife and daughters in one such video.

"My wife Doron Asher and 2 daughters Raz Asher 5yo and Aviv Asher 3yo, were taken yesterday as prisoners of Hamas. They were visiting my mother-in-law in Nir Oz", Yoni told WION.

"Along with my mother-in-law and her spouse, they were taken out of the house."

“My little two girls, they are only babies, they are not even 5 years old and 3 years old. … I don’t know in what terms they are captive. I don’t know what happened to them.”

Distressed Yoni issued a desperate plea that his family be kept safe, and even offered himself up as a hostage in exchange for their return.

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“I want to ask of Hamas, Don’t hurt them. Don’t hurt little children. Don’t hurt women.”

“If you want me instead, I’m willing to come.”

Numerous videos have emerged showing women, old and young, being carried away screaming on motorcycles and in cars and loaded into trucks and wagons.

Survivors of a music festival targeted by Hamas said the militants were shooting the legs off concertgoers to keep them from fleeing.

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