I’m running away, please find me, Eden Yerushalmi pleaded to the police dispatcher as she desperately tried to escape the brutal attack by Hamas terrorists at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023. Nearly a year later, on September 1, she was found dead along with six other hostages in Gaza.
Ms. Yerushalmi, a 24-year-old Tel Aviv resident, was abducted by Hamas last year from a music festival in southern Israel where she was working as a bartender. Her last words, uttered in desperation, are a horrifying reminder of the brutal reality faced by many during the attack.
On that fateful day, Eden Yerushalmi managed to talk to her sister on the phone for three hours while hiding among the bodies of her friends after they were murdered, reports the Jerusalem Post. When panic spread around her, she fled to a nearby wooded area. Before being captured, she made a desperate call to the police, in which she uttered her last words: “I’m running away, please find me, okay?”
Apart from Eden, the five other hostages who were “brutally murdered” on Sunday were – Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Ori Danino, 25; Alex Lubnov, 32; Carmel Gat, 40; and Almog Sarousi, 27.
Ori Danino, who was off duty, and the others were all captured during the attack on the concert. Carmel Gat, however, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) discovered their bodies in a tunnel in Rafah, just a kilometre from the location where former hostage Farhan al-Qadi was rescued.
Also Read | Hostages were “brutally murdered” shortly before we arrived: Israel
According to IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagar, the six hostages had likely been murdered a day or two before IDF troops discovered them, in what he described as a “brutal” act of violence by Hamas. The IDF was engaged in fierce fighting in the area, and it is believed the militants killed their captives in a final, heinous act as Israeli forces were closing in.
The IDF was operating with extreme caution in the area, as it had received indications that hostages could be held nearby. However, the exact location of the hostages remained unknown.
After Mr. Farhan was found, IDF troops stepped up their efforts, searching a complex of tunnels about 20 meters underground. It was there, on Saturday afternoon, that they found the bodies of Ms. Eden and the rest of the hostages.
Also Read | Who was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the US citizen murdered by Hamas in Gaza?
