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Who has been taken hostage, killed in Israel
Haim Peri, the 79-year-old father of Google employee Noam Peri, is one of at least 150 hostages in Israel. More than 1,200 Israelis have been killed.
TEL AVIV - Noam Peri made an impassioned plea Wednesday to help bring her 79-year-old father back after he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists five days ago.
She now believes her dad, Haim Peri, is being held hostage in Gaza.
And she recounted how her elderly father showed extreme bravery and selflessness on Saturday morning when Hamas broke into his kibbutz.
Peri said her father begged Hamas to spare his family and take him in their place.
"He heard the terrorists breaking into the house," said Peri, who is an industry head of financial tech at Google in Tel Aviv. "He was able to push the terrorists away, giving my mother precious minutes to hide."
"Dozens of terrorists invaded the kibbutz, and started butchering residents, going house by house," Peri continued tearfully at a news conference. "They butchered my friends, people I grew up with. There is no family in the kibbutz that was left unhurt. Everyone I know has at least one family member kidnapped or brutally murdered. The survivors will take long time to recover."
Peri said that her mother continued to hide for hours, afraid to move.
But she was finally able to escape.
And now, her mother is alive because of her father, Peri said.
Both her parents helped create the peaceful community of Nir Oz six decades ago in southern Israel in the Negev desert.
Peri said that her father and about 80 members of the kibbutz were all kidnapped on Saturday about 7 a.m. and haven't been seen or heard from since.
"It has been five, long sleepless days and nights for our families." Peri said at a news conference.
In all, about 150 hostages were taken in Israel, according to officials, and the current death toll of Israelis is roughly 1,200.
Peri said that the aftermath is also painful to look at.
The houses of the kibbutz are burned. Windows are shattered.
"And so are everyone's hearts," she said.
Then the ticked off statistics about who was taken: 80 people were kidnapped; 15 of those were children; and 24 were older than 75.
"My own father, Haim, is almost 80 years old," Peri said. "He is a caring husband, a wonderful father of five children and grandfather of 13 grandchildren."
She noted the horrific irony of his situation.
Her dad was a man who drove sick children and adults from the Gaza strip to be treated in Israel.
"He was a peace activist all his life," she said. "He fought for human rights and now he's held captive by Hamas terrorists without basic human rights or life-saving care."
This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.