Killed by Hamas: Special-needs Israeli girl (12) and her grandmother (80) found dead…
By Chris Steyn
The bodies of a 12-year-old Israeli girl with special needs and her 80-year-old grandmother were found this morning (19 October).
Noya and Carmela Dan – and three other family members – were abducted from their home by Hamas during the worst terror attack in Israel's history.
Following the grim discovery, Noam Dan, Carmela's niece, wrote on her Facebook page: "It just dawned on us that our beloved family members Noya and Carmela are no longer alive. We are in great pain… we have three more souls to save in our family (And in the country – a huge amount…) So tomorrow we will continue…"
Prior to the discovery of their remains, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling shared an X post with a "Harry Potter" photo of Noya with this comment: "Kidnapping children is despicable and wholy unjustifiable. For obvious reasons, this picture has hit home with me. May Noya and all hostages taken by Hamas be returned soon, safely, to their families." Her post was viewed over 25.8M times. (Below)
Meanwhile the Dan's relatives, Ofer Kalderon and his children Erez (12) and Sahar (16) are still missing.
In that family's reaction, Sharon Calderon wrote: "Today was a difficult day. All kinds of reasons, all kinds of feelings, many tears, many conversations. At the end of the day, difficult news arrived, ones that we hoped not to receive. Carmela Dan, Noya Dan are no longer with us. May they be remembered for love. We continue to fight to bring Ofer, Sahar, Erez home".
In a deeply distressing interview with BizNews last week, Noya's mother Galit Dan pleaded with the kidnappers not to harm her daughter.
"Don't hurt her…We are all God's children. We are human. Like you. We want peace. We are peace people. My father fought all his life for peace. I am pacifistic. I didn't want to hold guns. We are peace people and simple people like you. We like, we love the country. I think you deserve a country. I think I'll do anything to help you if you need, but don't hurt my kid."
Believing that her daughter was still alive, Galit sent her this message: "I'm doing everything I can to get you out of there. Noya, I'm strong and my love is strong. Everything will be okay. I'll save you. I'll do everything I can…Be strong. Keep each other. Be strong. Keep each other. We'll do everything to save you."
Galit described Noya as "very special".
"She's autistic, but she's so smart and and very sensitive. She likes Anime. She is so imaginative…"
Recalling the last contact she had from her daughter and mother during the terror attack, Galit says: "…she left me a message. Mommy, there's huge noise outside. I'm so afraid. And my Mom wrote, they are entering the house, they're breaking everything. I told her, Mommy close the door, close it, but I know they couldn't close the door, they couldn't lock it…because the door is very strong door for bombs, but not for against someone who open it from outside."
The bodies of the Dans were found still in Israeli territory. One of the theories is that they were killed because they were "too slow" to move – and easier to dispose of than to be taken all they way to Gaza.
Meanwhile, more bodies from terror attack victims are still being discovered by Israeli authories, some very close to the border.
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