Daughter whispered 'mummy help me' on phone as Hamas militants surrounded room

11 October 2023 , 07:39

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Galit Dan hasn't heard from her daughter since Hamas soldiers stormed the home she was staying in

One terrified daughter whispered “mummy help me” in one last heartbreaking message to her mother as Hamas militants surrounded her room amid the violent slaughter the group wrought on Israel.

Galit Dan, 53, dropped off her 12-year-old daughter Noya at a sleepover with her gran Carmela near to the Gaza border in Israel, just hours before Hamas attacked on Saturday. But, as gunfire and explosions erupted near the Gaza border, over the weekend, Noya and her gran fled to the panic room inside the home.

Meanwhile, Galit, Noya’s stepdad Inon Ilan and her other daughter Tomal had raced to their own fortified panic room, at their home five miles away, and spent hours in the darkness texting each other. Back at Carmela's home, terror ensued as Hamas militants stormed inside. It was then that little Noya sent one last heartbreaking voice message to her mum.

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Galit had just dropped her daughter off for a sleepover at her gran's house when fighting broke out

The Sun reported she said: “Mummy I’m scared. There are people in the house — help me.” Since then, nothing has been heard from Noya, or her gran, but they were not amongst some of the dead identified nearby. Instead, it is feared that they are among some of the people taken hostage.

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Speaking to the outlet, she said: “The pain is indescribable. My little girl went for a sleepover with her granny and was messaging us as these animals came for them. Our best hope now is that they have been kidnapped and will somehow survive. I am desperate to see my beautiful daughter home and beg anyone with power to do whatever they can. I am living every parent’s nightmare — every parent in the world will feel our pain.”

Galit, her husband and other daughter spent 22 hours inside their home in the settlement of Kibbutz Kissufim. Inon described Noya as “very sweet, very funny” but “extremely sensitive” because she suffered from autism. After the sirens sounded, the family fled into their panic room after sirens sounded early on Saturday.

They could hear shooting and explosions but after they sealed themselves away, they claimed that Hamas troops couldn’t get into their panic room. This comes on the fifth day of fighting after the violence was reignited between the two historical enemies. Israel and Palestine have a long history of conflict stretching back decades, to British involvement when the country settled a huge number of Jewish people in the region.

Since this took place in 1948, there have been numerous wars and conflicts, including the Six Day War in 1967, and second war less in 1973 when the country was attacked by Egypt and Syria. In the years since there have been repeated attempts at brokering a peace.

Kieren Williams