For two months, all the family of 39-year-old Mohammad Alatrash, from the Bedouin village of Sawa in the Negev, knew was that he had been declared missing since the Hamas massacre on October 7. Late last week, his family was informed that on Black Saturday he had been kidnapped into the Gaza Strip.
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His father, Ibrahim Alatrash, said on Sunday in an interview on Ynet Live that "in all these two months we knew nothing, the family just wanted to know if he was dead or alive. When we were informed that he was kidnapped, we felt relieved that we knew something, that he was somewhere."
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Demonstrating in Tel Aviv for the return of the hostages held in Gaza
(Photo: Oz Moalem)
"During these two months, a representative came to us every week to tell us that they are still looking for the body, and find nothing," Ibrahim Alatrash said. "Now we don't know if he is alive, but at least we have a direction - and we hope he is alive and will return safely."
On the day his son was kidnapped, he was at work near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. "The last time we managed to catch him was at 6:15 a.m., and someone was talking to him," his father said.
Ibrahim said Mohammad was supporting his large family, of two wives and 13 children, including a baby that was a month old when he was kidnapped. He also has 22 brothers and sisters, who Ibrahim says "always ask what's up with him. Now they are a little calmer. They say that he will return alive and that they (Hamas) will not touch him. We want him to return to his family, to his children."
After the news of his abduction became public, Mohammad's uncle said: "Our lives are not normal since Mohammad has not returned to the family since the beginning of the war. It is not easy for us to deal with such a difficult atmosphere, especially because we do not know if he is alive or dead. We hope that we will receive good news that will bring joy back to all of us. Every day the children ask about when their father is coming back, and we have no way of providing answers."