Some 100 people were kidnapped by Hamas this past weekend in Israel. Here is the story of one Minnesota family who was taken from their Kibbutz.

They exchanged text messages and emojis. Brief status updates with words of encouragement. A picture of the beloved family dog "Tutsi."

Until no more messages came.

And then, Cindy Flash, an American, and her Israeli husband Igal vanished into the violence, presumed kidnapped by Hamas.

Four days after Hamas attacked Israel, more than 100 Israelis and potentially dozens of foreign nationals are thought to be held captive in the Gaza Strip. At least 14 U.S. citizens have been killed and an unknown number are still unaccounted for.

Flash, 67, originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, is one of them. She lives in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel near Gaza, where some of the most harrowing and grisly stories have been emerging during the last few days.

"They are breaking down the safe room door," Flash said in one of her final messages to her daughter Keren, 34. "We need someone to come by the house right now." She had been communicating with her parents from a few houses away.

Keren described her mother, who worked as an administrator in a local college, as someone who had the "sweetest biggest heart," who everyone knew and loved, and who had spent a lifetime advocating for the rights of Palestinians, including those who live in Gaza where she may now be held.

  • IninewCrow@lemmy.caEnglish
    7·
    1 year ago

    And it's not like they are talking about cheap real estate either

    The new houses, each sitting on a 500 square meter (5,380 square foot) plot, go for between NIS 1.2 million ($335,000) for 90 square meters (970 square feet) to NIS 1.8 million ($500,000) for 180 square meters (1,940 square feet).

    By comparison, a 94 square meter (1,012 square foot) first floor apartment in Rishon LeZion in central Israel sold last week for NIS 1.96 million ($546,000) while a 184 square meter (1,980 square foot) house with a 247 square meter (2,660 square foot) garden sold in the same city for NIS 2.7 million ($752,500), according to the Globes business newspaper.

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/despite-rockets-arson-balloons-israeli-communities-on-gaza-border-keep-growing/

    If I had access to half a million dollars to purchase or invest in real estate … I wouldn't want to invest in a location that could be destroyed by war or risk me and my family to violence or death.