An American family whose loved ones told them they were about to be murdered by Hamas during a heartbreaking phone call have been informed their relatives are alive in a beacon of hope to dozens of distraught families.
Jay Zeitchek, 70, who lives in New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that the last words his family heard from their relatives in Israel as savage terrorists descended on their home were: ‘I don’t think we can survive, I love you.’
They were then seen being taken hostage by gunmen in a chilling video circulating on social media.
The six members of Jay’s family, including three-year-old twins, were among hundreds terrorized by Hamas as militants gassed, burned and slaughtered innocent civilians at Nir Oz kibbutz on Saturday morning.
It is thought more than a quarter of the community of 400 were killed.
Jay’s niece, Sharon Cunio, 35, her husband David, 35, and their twins Emma and Julie, were left cowering in a bomb shelter for hours as Hamas set fire to their neighbor’s home and began to smoke them out of their hiding place.
Alongside them were Danielle Alony, 43, Sharon’s elder sister, and her daughter Amelia, 5.
Alana Zeitchek, Jay’s daughter, put out an appeal for information on US television on Thursday after spotting her relatives in a hostage video on social media.
She said she had been on a phone call with her family as Hamas set fire to their neighbor’s home.
‘Their house and their bomb shelters were filled with smoke,’ Alana, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, told ABC. ‘And this is what these terrorists had been doing. They were smoking people out as if they were rodents. And the smoke was starting to fill into the bomb shelter and on the phone with my aunt, my cousin said I don’t think we can survive. I love you and that was the last contact we’ve had with them.’
Alana posted a picture of her ‘beautiful family’ on Instagram, alongside the caption: ‘When it comes to families I won the lottery with mine, and the love I have for them is immeasurable. On Saturday, Kibbutz Nir Oz was ravaged by terrorists and they were taken hostage by genocidal savages.
