My 16-year-old son, Amitush, is a sweet, quiet boy. Amit is the second of four children. His siblings are Mika (18), Emma (12) and Rani (9). The last time I saw my son was Friday evening, October 6, when we were together until 10:00 PM. I hugged him before he went to sleep at his mother’s house 300 meters from mine. 

Amit loves football (he’s an ardent fan of Juventus), skateboarding, surfing, and playing guitar. Amit loves watching the professional Soccer League with me. He likes to barbecue, and it’s important for him to prepare the meat properly. He asks me to take him surfing at the beach in Ashkelon whenever possible. At school he studies cinema, and recently surprised us when he received a certificate of excellence in his studies, seemingly without making any effort!

On Saturday, October 7, at noon, 7 Hamas terrorists broke into his mother’s home, and quickly reached the saferoom where Amit, his mother and siblings were sheltering. They opened the door. Amit tried to stop them but his mother told him not to resist. He raised his hands and got down on his knees. The family was taken out of the saferoom and brought to the front yard along with their upstairs neighbors. There the terrorists handcuffed, along with two others, Yossi Sharabi (50, father of the neighboring family) and Ofir Engel (17, from Ramat Rachel, a friend of the neighbor’s daughter). All three were placed in a black car and driven northward. All this happened hours before the Israeli army arrived on the scene.