FL Family Awaits News Of Israeli Son Held Hostage By Hamas: Reports

FLORIDA — After Hamas released more than 50 hostages during the first three days of a now six-day cease-fire with Israel, the family of a man with Florida ties is eagerly awaiting news about whether he’s been freed or not, according to multiple reports.

About 240 people, hailing from various countries, though most Israeli, were kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and have been held in Gaza ever since, according to The Washington Post.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and children. About 1,200 have been killed in Israel, most during the initial series of deadly Hamas attacks last month.

Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, who has family in Sarasota, is one of those held captive by the militant group.

Dekel-Chen hasn’t been heard from since Oct. 7, when Hamas invaded the Nir Oz kibbutz, where he lived, according to CBC radio. He lived there with his pregnant wife and their two daughters, age 2 and 6.

His father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a U.S.-born Hebrew University of Jerusalem professor who is a dual citizen of Israel and the U.S., also lives part-time in the same kibbutz. He was away on business during the attack, reports said.

His father spends some of his time in Sarasota, reports said.

Sagui’s stepmother, Gillian Kaye, who lives in Sarasota, said he put his wife and young daughters in their bomb shelter during the attacks, according to WWSB.

He kept watch outside and was nowhere to be found once the onslaught ceased. He’s currently on Israel’s missing person list.

Sagui Dekel-Chen not only brought his family to safety, he also alerted everyone in the kibbutz about the militant group’s attack, and was among a few men in the community who tried to fight them off, Kaye added, according to CBS News.

The surviving members of the kibbutz, about 160 of them, have been temporarily relocated to the southern Israel city of Eilat, according to PBS. And Sagui’s wife is expected to give birth soon.

His father told CT Insider a week after the attack, "We're congregated here at a hotel in Eilat trying to make sense of life again. Our homes are gone. Essentially the evacuees had to leave with the shirts on their backs, and we begin life again, essentially as refugees in our own country."

“As far as dealing with it day to day, it's — what keeps us going is the belief, the hope and the belief that Sagui and all of the hostages will come home soon and live the lives that they really deserve to live. And so taking care of children, in my case, grandchildren, is coupled with — and surrounding them with love, of course, the best we can to help to the degree that it's possible to overcome the trauma,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen said.

The initial hostages handed over to Israel in recent days were all women and children, so the family didn’t expect Sagui’s return just yet.

“What do I want him to know? Sagui, we miss you; we love you and want you to come home, we just want you to come home,” Kaye said.