The fourth-grader was nabbed along with his mother and grandparents during a holiday visit to his grandparents’ home. His beloved uncle was killed in the attack.
Ohad Munder-Zichri’s 9th birthday is on Monday. But instead of celebrating at home with his family and friends, he is believed to be somewhere in Gaza, one of more than 200 hostages held by Hamas since the militants’ devastating Oct. 7 incursion.
The fourth-grader from the central Israeli city of Kfar Saba was nabbed along with his mother and grandparents during a holiday visit to his grandparents’ kibbutz of Nir Oz along the border with Gaza.
Ohad’s beloved uncle was killed in the attack. The boy, his mom and grandparents disappeared with the only thread of information about them coming from a cellphone signal traced to Gaza.
It’s that uncertainty that has been most agonizing for Ohad’s grief-stricken father, Avi Zichri.
“I keep imagining what he is going through. He’s a sensitive boy. Did he see dead bodies? He wears glasses. Did they take them from him? Can he see anything?” Zichri said as he nervously chain-smoked cigarettes on his front porch.
“I keep thinking of every scenario, hoping for the least catastrophic. I just hope that he is safe and with his mother.”
Zichri has been living this nightmare for 17 days, saying the thoughts never leave him and the only reprieve comes when he takes sleeping pills that knock him out for the night.
“And then I wake up in the morning and feel guilty for not thinking about them in my sleep,” the 69-year-old said.
Ohad is Zichri’s only child with his partner, Keren Munder, a 54-year-old special education teacher and volleyball coach for children with disabilities.
