CENTRAL ISRAEL (Reuters) -The world came to know her as the little Israeli-American girl who lost her parents in Hamas’ October 7 attack and was abducted by the militant group to Gaza. Two years on, with a new pink backpack, she’s off to her first day of school.
“She was so excited,” said her aunt and adoptive mother, Leron Mor, recalling how Avigail packed and unpacked her new backpack the night before she started first grade. “She was just glowing,” Leron said, her voice breaking with emotion.
For Avigail’s family, every moment of joy also bears pain.
“Every time there’s an important event, it’s bittersweet,” Leron said. “We’re happy for them, but we know how much they miss their mum and dad and how much they should have been here.”
Avigail was three years old when Hamas militants rampaged through her kibbutz Kfar Aza. Her parents were among the 1,200 people killed on that day. Avigail was kidnapped to Gaza and released almost two months later, in a brief truce.
TAKEN IN BY AUNT AND UNCLE
Avigail and her two siblings were later taken in by their aunt and uncle, Leron and Zoli Mor, and their three children, who had also been living on the kibbutz.
“The first year was about survival, very fresh and painful, this year has been a step forward,” said Leron, whose sister was Smadar, Avigail’s mother.
The Mors are protective of Avigail’s privacy. They won’t allow her face to be shown in photos and videos, nor do they want to divulge the place of their new home in central Israel.
One of the last published photos of Avigail showed her being held up by then-U.S. President Joe Biden, during a visit to the White House in April 2024.
“In everyday life, she is a normal kid, like everyone, and that is what we keep saying to her,” said Leron. “She likes to dance, arts and crafts, playing with her brothers and sisters. She is a very happy child.”
Though she is just shy of six, says Zoli, Avigail sets clear boundaries in recounting her harrowing ordeals.
“She is a very smart and strong girl,” said Zoli. “If she doesn’t feel comfortable with somebody asking her, she just says: ‘Stop I don’t want to talk about it.'”
On the day of the attack, Hamas militants burst into the safe room where Avigail and her family were hiding. They shot Smadar dead. The children and father Roee escaped outside, but Roee was shot dead with Avigail in his arms.
Avigail’s siblings Michael and Amalia ran back to the house and hid for hours in a cabinet while Avigail managed to slip away on her own, avoiding the heavily armed Hamas gunmen and making her way to a friend’s house, only to be taken captive with the friend’s mother and two siblings.
It wasn’t until around a week later that her fate became clear. She turned four in captivity and was released in a brief truce deal in late November 2023.
Of the 251 hostages seized on October 7, 2023, 48 are still in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be still alive. The attack precipitated Israel’s assault on Gaza which has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks, Israel and Hamas began talks in Egypt on an agreement to end the war, free the remaining hostages and allow aid into Gaza.
“When she is older and if she wants to interview – that’s hers, but for now, she’s not even six yet, let her be kid,” said Leron.
“In a way, we are still on that morning of the seventh of October. But we are trying to do our best to keep going, to look forward, to look to the future and to have a life, a happy life,” she said.
(Writing by Maayan LubellEditing by Peter Graff)
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