NYC families of hostages held by Hamas remain united as 1-year mark approaches
NEW YORK -- There are feelings of agony for Moshe Lavi and Leat Corinne Unger every time they arrive at a protest calling for the release of the hostages being held by Hamas since being brutally kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023. But they say their agony turns into fuel for their continued fight to get their loved ones home.
It has been nearly one year of them advocating to elected officials around the world to pressure key players into making a deal that would benefit the hostages and people trapped in Gaza. Their efforts and voices have become so loud, they take their fight to Central Park every Sunday to protest.
"We try not to imagine the worst and keep focusing on what we can save," Lavi said. "We believe we can still save him. We have no reason to believe otherwise."
Omri Miran
Lavi, who lives in New York City, has been fighting for his brother-in-law Omri Miran's release from Hamas captivity every moment he can get. Miran was kidnapped from his home on kibbutz Nachal Oz, after he and his family were held hostage inside their home for eight hours on Oct. 7.
Lavi said Miran's sister and two young nieces survived the mental and physical torture that day, but watched as Miran was taken away to Gaza.
"The past year has been so intense," Lavi said. "At times, we saw other interests overriding what we thought is Israel's primary objective in this war, which is the redemption of the hostages."
Miran and more than 100 others have been in Gaza ever since. Hostages released in a deal in November say they were held with Miran in an underground tunnel.
"They reported he's holding up. They said he's given strength to others because of his training as a shiatsu therapist," Lavi said.
During Passover last April, Lavi and his family received their first sign of life after Hamas released a propaganda video of him in captivity.
"We were relieved to see him alive, even though he looked very unwell, weak, thinner, eyes looked very different from his regular comforting, happy eyes," Lavi said.
Omer Shem-Tov
The families of hostages say time is running out. Lavi joined forces with dozens of other family members in the New York City area to fight for officials to cut a deal to get their loved ones home. It's a shared experience he has with New Jersey resident Leat Corinne Unger.
"Our lives changed overnight. We didn't choose it. Most of our families haven't worked since Oct. 7. All we do is advocate for people to be brought home, which is a basic human right to have life," Unger said.
Unger's cousin, 21-year-old Omer Shem-Tov, was kidnapped with his two friends from the Nova music festival. Unger describes him as "funny, silly, adventurous, and full of light." Shem Tov was working as a waiter in Herzliyah and had a passion for music.
"The terrorists came in and basically took them and cuffed them with zip ties and threw them into the back of a pickup truck," Unger said.
Hours later, a video surfaced on a Hamas Telegram channel of Shem Tov being kidnapped. Later in November, Shem-Tov was left behind after his two friends were released from captivity.
"They shared that Omer was really a source of strength," Unger said.
"We learned that he was suffering tremendously because he has asthma and does not have access to his inhaler, not allowed to cough out loud, and to make noise," she added. "He was in tremendous pain because he was eating pita bread and he has Celiac disease."
The struggles and frustration are never ending
Unger and Lavi say getting the world to not forget about the hostages has been half the battle. Getting elected officials to cut a deal has been the other half.
"It takes us having to be in front of everyone's faces all the time fighting to be the reminder for them," Unger said. "What would you do? What would you not do in order to bring people home?"
"I want New Yorkers to imagine that one morning a foreign terrorist organization attacked them and kidnapped their loved ones. Someone entered their home, entered their parks, shot their neighbors, burned their houses, kidnapped their kids," Lavi said. "How would you advocate for your loved ones? What would you expect others to do for you?"
As Israel begins limited operations in southern Lebanon in their fight against Iran proxy and terror organization Hezbollah, the families of hostages worry what the future will look like for their loved ones.
"I wish one front was finished before the next one had started, and I hope the hostages won't be left behind," Unger said.
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