‘My daughters give me strength’: Lishai lives between hope and the pain of not knowing her husband was kidnapped by Hamas

Ringworm Lavi wakes up every morning hoping that he is just dreaming. A victim of war, the Israeli woman is finding it increasingly difficult to count the days since her husband Omri Miran was kidnapped by Hamas, but she tries to believe she will find him again. As she prays for good news, she cares for her two daughters, ages one and two. The eldest daughter draws her father several times, hoping to see him return.

“It’s another day where we wake up in the morning and still think it’s just a nightmare. And we understand that this is not so, this is reality,” said 39-year-old Lavi in ​​an interview with the publication Reuters.

Lishai’s husband Lavi was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7 and has been in captivity since then. Omri Miran was last seen in a hostage video released in April. This proof that he was alive made Lishay happy, but at the same time made him realize the state this man would be in because of what he had been through.

Since that day, Lishay has not heard anything about her husband. The four hostages rescued from Gaza by Israeli commandos last week were not in the same area as her husband and so no new information was revealed.

To pass the time, the woman focuses on her role as a mother and tries to raise her two daughters, Roni and Alma.

Roni, who is 2 years and 10 months old, draws a picture of Omri and wishes him good night before going to bed. Alma is 1 year and 2 months old.

“I always hope that this will end, that Omri will come back and that we will continue to be a family. And I can say that my two beautiful little daughters give me the strength I need. It is very difficult to see them smile. and their growth, because Omri is not here but on the other side, it gives me a lot of strength,” he said.