Taken captive: Three members of the Calderon family
From Kibbutz Nir Oz, a father and two children, last seen trying to escape
Three members of the Calderon family from Kibbutz Nir Oz have been missing since Saturday, October 7, when Gaia Calderon last heard from her younger sister.
The last message Calderon received was that her family was trying to hide outside. Her grandmother, Carmela Dan, and cousin, Noya Dan, who has autism, had also disappeared without a trace, but their bodies were found, according to reports on October 19.
“My dad brought me up, he’s my best friend, I have no one to talk to,” said Calderon, weeping at a press conference held for French-Israeli citizens missing in the aftermath of the Hamas massacres in Israel’s south. Her mother, Carmela, has French citizenship.
“I’m the big sister who’s supposed to protect them, my hope is that they’re alive. These are little kids who slept at home and woke up to Hamas kidnapping them,” said Calderon.
Calderon saw a Hamas video that featured her 12-year-old brother, Erez, taken captive in Gaza.
“They took half my family,” said Calderon, weeping uncontrollably. “My little 12-year-old brother Erez, Arabs taking him in their hands. He was born 12 years ago, he hasn’t had time to live.”
Calderon wasn’t at home with her father, Ofer, and her siblings Sahar and Erez in Nir Oz.
Her grandmother Carmela was at her house down the street with Calderon’s cousin Noya.
“The terrorists burned down the houses, we don’t have a house to return to,” said Calderon.