A Father's Fight: The 470-Day Struggle to Bring Daughter Romi Home Samvada World

*_{Romi Gonen reunites with her family at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, on January 19, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)}*

For 470 days, the father of this Israeli citizen cried out through media and non-governmental organisations calling for Hamas to safely return his kidnapped daughter Romi.
Romi was finally released, as part of an exchange deal struck between Israel and Hamas.
The torture of captivity is now over, but the road to recovery for Romi has just begun.
“Romi is home, but many others are not. Their families are still living the nightmare we just woke up from,” he said.

For 470 days, the father, of this Israeli citizen cried out through media and non-governmental organisations calling for Hamas to safely return his kidnapped daughter Romi. For him, it was to make Hamas to answer his pleas. On January 19, 2025, when the very rare exchange of hostages and prisoners between Israel and Hamas came about, Romi was among the hostages freed by Hamas.

A Desperate Father’s Call

Romi Gonen was just a young Israeli woman partying with friends when she was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, during Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel. She was among hundreds taken hostage as militants stormed into communities not far from the Gaza border. In the months that followed, her father, Eitan, refused to let her name fade into silence. He protested, addressed foreign media, had diplomatic meetings and sent communications to agencies reminding the world that maybe his daughter was alive and that he was waiting for her to come back home.

Eitan kept repeating: “Wait for me, my love. We are fighting for you. Return to us alive”, aloud, a phrase he recalled upon her release. He never knew whether his words reached her, but he kept speaking out aloud to her, believing she somehow heard him, even in the darkness of captivity.

*_{Eitan Gonen, whose daughter Romi was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023}*

Survival in Captivity

For Romi, survival in Gaza was a dire ordeal. Information about her period in captivity only recently started to leak but reports indicate that she was kept hostage in poor conditions with meagre food supplies and no proper medicinal care. She suffered from malnutrition, suffering under what analysts have termed “mild starvation”.

Despite the hardships, it is fascinating how she was able to learn Arabic in captivity and thus maintained some kind of dialogue with her captors. She did so that she could negotiate at least something like a larger ration of food or an end to sexual harassment. Former hostages often discuss the psychological capacity that must be at one’s disposal to withstand such an extended captivity. Romi is not alone in enduring such ordeals.

Romi was finally released, as part of an exchange deal struck between Israel and Hamas. With her were three female hostages, with whom she was held; this took place as a package deal in exchange for a group of Palestinian prisoners. It was a deal aimed at arranging a ceasefire that would end the hostilities between the two parties.

The moment she was reunited with her father was an emotional one. “I looked at her, and I saw the pain, the suffering, but also the strength,” Eitan said. “She survived because she had hope. Because she knew we wouldn’t stop fighting for her.”

A Long Road to Recovery

The torture of captivity is now over but the road to recovery for Romi has just begun. Doctors say she is suffering from vitamin deficiencies and other health problems associated with nutrition deprivation. Another major challenge is psychological trauma. Experts say that former hostages often experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and difficulty reintegrating into normal life.

Given the months of malnutrition and PTSD which made her weak physically and mentally, she will undergo a long rehabilitation period.

A Call for the Remaining Hostages

Even as he welcomed the return of his daughter Romi, Eitan Gonen continues to fight for those who remain in Gaza. “Romi is home, but many others are not. Their families are still living the nightmare we just woke up from,” he said. His campaign has now switched to asking the government of Israel and international interveners to make sure that all hostages are allowed to return home in safety.

The issue remains a highly contentious one in Israeli politics and international diplomacy. The exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages has raised debates on national security and negotiation tactics. However, for families of captives, the priority remains to bring their loved ones back alive.

“I always believed she could hear me,” Eitan said. “And now, she’s finally home.”

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