A devastated father has shared a chilling phone call from his daughter during Hamas’ attack on a Israeli music festival where at least 260 people were slaughtered and others taken hostage.
The heartbreaking call
In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Ilan Regev, played the heartbreaking call he received from his daughter, Maya, 21, as she and her brother Itay, 18, were being kidnapped by Hamas.
‘Dad, they shot me, they shot me!’ Maya said in a call to her father on Oct. 7 amid the gunfire. ‘He is killing us, Dad, he is killing us.’
Ilan could be heard telling Maya to send her location and find a place to hide and said ‘I’m coming.’
Ilan jumped in his car from his home in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, and sped south to the festival site, where he was barred from entering.
In the interview Ilan can be seen breaking down as he becomes overwhelmed with emotion listening to his daughter’s gut-wrenching cries and pleas once again.
Maya has not been seen since she went missing, but a friend sent Ilan a video of Itay being held hostage by Hamas.
‘I think he’s alive now,’ Ilan said of his son. ‘I don’t know, but he’s not dead from the shooting. They informed us.’
Maya sent mother a message
The siblings mother, Mirit, said that she received messages from Maya saying that they were ok and waiting for the police to let them go.
Maya is believed to have also sent Mirit a message telling her mother ‘I love you.’
Burnett said Ilan and Mirit shared the call because they want the world to ‘pay attention and care.’
The horrifying call, was in stark contrast to the night the siblings set off for the Tribe of Nova music festival on Oct 7.
Some 260 people were killed and dozens more kidnapped among the 3,500 or so who had flocked from all over the world to celebrate the values of ‘free love and free spirit, preservation of the environment, appreciation of natural values’ promoted by the festival.
‘Mom, I’ll unpack my suitcase when I get back,’ Maya told her mother that Friday night, in a rush to get going, the Associated Press reported. ‘See you tomorrow.’
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It was a typical activity for the duo, who both love to be on the move, gather with friends, and especially to travel, their parents said.
Maya had already bought her ticket for an extended trip to South America in December.
But early the next morning, Ilan’s phone rang, with a frantic Maya on the other end.
‘I want to know that my kids are alive,’ Ilan told the outlet.Mirit added: ‘We don’t know if they are eating. We don’t know if they are drinking. If they are hurt.’
It comes as families of the more than 200 people who the Israeli military says were taken hostage by Hamas militants hold out hope after the news that two hostages have been released.
