The American and Israeli hostage heron Dekel Chen, who is unaware that his family survived the October 7th terrorist attack, was raised without knowing that his family survived the Hamas terrorist attack. He spent almost 500 days of his “majority” below. In Gaza, his father told NBC News.
The 369, 369, were released from two other hostages from Hamas prisoners on Saturday in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. He is the second US citizen after 65-year-old Keith Siegel and will be released in Phase 1 of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
In an interview Monday, his father, Jonathan Dekel Chen, told the son, who was injured in his right shoulder and left foot when he was lured by Kibutz Nir Oz in a Hamas-led attack in October 2023, said he had “supported minimal medical care.” I was given it.” I’ll get treatment when he arrives in Gaza. ”
“There was no follow-up treatment, so it’s a lot of damage,” he said. “He was in the tunnels for the majority. Even in the short period of time he was on the ground, there was no sunlight at all,” he added.
On the morning of the attack, Dekel-Chen put his wife, Avital Dekel-Chen, 34, and their two daughters, Bar, 7, Gali and 3, in a safe room at home. He then went out to confront the militants raiding their kibbutz and was taken prisoner.
He was also taken around 250 hostages on the day 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tally.
Avital Dekel-Chen was seven months pregnant when her husband was invited and gave birth to her third daughter two months later.
Dekel Chen spent most of 498 days in Gaza, not knowing whether his wife and daughter are still alive, Jonathan Dekel Chen said.
“In the tunnels, they’re a complete information vacuum,” he said. “And Sagui began stitching together partial photos two days before he was released.”
Only then did he “become a part of information here and there, and I came to believe that his wife and two older daughters survived,” Jonathan Dekel Chen said, “He was a part of the information here and there. We didn’t know yet whether her third daughter had it. If she had ever been born, she would survive.”
During her pregnancy, Dekel Chen joked, calling the fetus Mazal, an old-fashioned name that means “luck” in Hebrew, said Jonathan Dekel Chen.
The moment Dekel-Chen reunited with his wife in southern Israel on Saturday, she told him she had named her daughter Shachar Mazal. Shacha is the Hebrew word for “dawn.”
A video released by the Israeli Defense Forces of the reunion shows Dekel Chen getting emotional after learning the name of a baby he has never met.
“Wow, perfect,” he whispered in response. “What a name.”
He then held his first Shachar at Sheva Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he was reunited with Bar and Gari.
“There are no words in English or any other language I know that can truly express the power of reunion with a little girl,” Jonathan Dekel Chen said.
They also saw Sasha Alexander Torfanov, liberated by Hamas, and 46-year-old Yaahorn, liberated by the Hamas. Temporary shelters and heavy drilling equipment into the Gaza Strip.
It sparked a fierce response from both Israel and President Donald Trump. President Donald Trump warned that “all hell will be unleashed” unless they are released. October 7th, 2023.
The first phase of the contract – seeking the release of 33 hostages and the release of around 1,900 prisoners and detainees in exchange for a six-week ceasefire – is due to expire on March 2.
Negotiations are underway to reach the second stage of the agreement. This will see the release of all living hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and detainees, a permanent ceasefire, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Eventually, prior to the release of Dekel-Chen, both sides retreated and returned to the original conditions of a ceasefire mediated by Qatar and 369 Palestinian prisoners.
Jonathan Dekel Chen said that the times of uncertainty were “cruel” and were waiting to see if the ceasefire would collapse, “Honestly, not just us, but all the rest of the hostage families.” It’s scary,” he added.
