The moving news of the release of Elma Avraham, an 84-year-old resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz from Hamas captivity, is overshadowed by bitter updates about her severe health condition. Avraham was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center in a deteriorated physical state and in critical condition, with her life in danger.
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Earlier Sunday evening, her close friend Ziva Leshetzinsky shared details about the moments of the kidnapping, the last phone call, and her anticipation to see Elma healthy and whole again.
"At 11:05 on that Saturday morning, I called her," Leshetzinsky recounted, "I asked how she was, and she replied that she was sitting in the safe room. She hadn't finished her sentence when she said, 'Oh, there are terrorists here.' The call was cut off then. At that moment, I started calling everyone I could, but no one could help. Even our community's emergency services were unavailable."
Where were you at the time?
"I was in a safe room myself. It was impossible to leave, and all these weeks I've been tormented by the thought that maybe I could have helped her but didn’t. It's very hard to know that maybe we could have helped. Elma is an elderly woman with many health issues, and I kept thinking how someone like her could survive under such conditions."
Tell us about her.
"We've been friends for nearly 50 years, since we were in the kibbutz. Elma is creative, a good friend and deeply cares for her children. She loves people."
Dr. Shlomi Kodesh, director of Soroka Medical Center, gave an update on her medical condition Sunday evening. "This evening, an elderly woman in poor physical condition was airlifted to Soroka Medical Center from the Gaza border. Unfortunately, she is in life-threatening condition and is being treated in our Emergency Department. She will soon be transferred to the intensive care unit, where she will continue to receive stabilizing treatment to improve her medical condition. Her condition reflects a prolonged period in which she likely did not receive proper care. The lack of treatment has led to the situation we are now dealing with."
Avraham was released Sunday evening as part of the third phase of the hostage exchange deal, along with the four members of the Goldstein-Almog family - mother Chen and her children Agam, Tal and Gal; the four Brodetz family members - mother Hagar and her children Ofri, Yuval and Oriya; sisters Ella and Dafna Elyakim; Avivah Siegal, 62; and also Abigail Edan, just four years and two days old. In addition to them, Roni Kriboy, an Israeli with Russian citizenship who worked at the Nova Music Festival, and three Thai nationals were released from captivity.