Jewish community urges Australians to remember hostages, nine months on

In Ralph Lewinsohn’s kibbutz of about 800 people, 63 were killed and 18 taken hostage by Hamas, with five hostages still unaccounted for in Gaza nine months later.

Former Melbourne couple Ralph and Barbara Lewinsohn and their family survived the Kfar Aza massacre on Saturday, October 7, in southern Israel where children and babies were later found decapitated. Picture: Supplied

Nine months ago, Ralph Lewinsohn was one of three members of Kfar Aza, a kibbutz community of about 800 people living near Israel’s border with Gaza, who regularly volunteered with the Road to Recovery charity, ferrying Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank to receive medical treatment in Jerusalem.

On October 7, one of the other volunteers was murdered by Hamas terrorists, as was the son of the third. Of two volunteers at the neighbouring Kibbutz Be’eri, both were killed.

“How do you relate to that afterwards?” Mr Lewinsohn asks.

He and his extended family survived the attack by sheltering in safe rooms under their houses, as 63 members of their tiny community were killed, and 18 taken hostage. Another 40 IDF members died attempting to defend the kibbutz.

Of the 18 hostages, 13 women and children have since been returned, while five Kfar Aza residents remain captive in Gaza.

“Dead or alive, we don’t know,” Mr Lewinsohn said.

In Melbourne with wife Barbara to visit their adult daughter, Keren, Mr Lewinsohn was among more than 1000 people attending a march in the Jewish heartland of Caulfield on Sunday to call for the return of the hostages.

Community members attending Sunday’s Freedom March at Melbourne’s Caulfield Park to mark “Nine Months of Hell” for the hostages still in Gaza. Picture: Tony Gough

“The hostages that have been exchanged or released have spoken about terrible abuse, mainly sexual abuse and physical abuse. Some of the hostages have been killed. We don’t know who,” he said. “Those that are remaining are mainly underground in some dark tunnel, with very little light, very little air, very little food.”

Among the Kfar Aza hostages still believed to be in Gaza are Gali and Ziv Berman, the 26-year-old sons of Mr Lewinsohn’s neighbours, and 30-year-old veterinary nurse Doron Steinbrecher.

“Everything is very personal. Her father and I worked together for 30 years. She has a health condition … she has specific medication, which she’s obviously not getting,” Mr Lewinsohn said.

“She was put up on a Hamas propaganda video about two months ago begging to be freed, and I didn’t actually recognise her except for her voice. She was completely gaunt.”

Remarkably, Mr Lewinsohn said he remained in contact with a Palestinian family whose children he regularly used to ferry to hospital for treatment for a hereditary condition which causes cancer.

Attendees at Sunday’s rally in Melbourne’s Caulfield Park to call for the release of the hostages taken captive by Hamas in Gaza, nine months after the terrorist organisation’s October 7 attack on Israel. Picture: Tony Gough

“They fled to Egypt, but can’t get the treatment in Egypt. They blame Hamas for their miserable life, but for anybody in Gaza to say anything negative about Hamas is putting their life in their hands, so they’re very careful about what they write,” he said.

He urged Australians not to judge the situation in the Middle East by the standards of their “comfortable lifestyle, but by the realities of the Middle East – the constant threat of violence and the very strong influence of Islamic ideology”.

Zionism Victoria executive director Zeddy Lawrence said he was proud to have helped organise the rally, and hoped it would send a message to hostage families that they’re not forgotten and “remind the rest of the world that there are still over 100 innocent civilians in captivity and if they were released the war would end”.