‘Absolute gut punch.’ | North Texas family remembers Israeli hostage killed in Gaza

DALLAS — Israel said early Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages captured during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that ignited the Gaza war.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have surged into the streets in an outpouring of grief and anger. Demonstrators are urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal to bring the remaining captives home.

One of the hostages killed was 40-year-old Carmel Gat.

Earlier this year WFAA spoke with Gat’s cousin, Leelle Slifer, who is an attorney in Dallas.

“It doesn’t get easier every time you talk about this,” Leelle Slifer said in a Jan. 2024 interview.

Sunday evening, Slifer told WFAA she was too shaken to speak. Joel Schwitzer, Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee, spoke on behalf of Gat’s North Texas family.

“An absolute gut punch,” Schwitzer said. “Just like Carmel had family right here in Dallas, seven of the hostages still in captivity are American citizens.”

Gat was an occupational therapist from Tel Aviv and enjoyed solo travel, rock concerts, and the band Radiohead. Hostages who were released during a cease-fire in November said she taught them meditation and yoga exercises to help them survive in captivity.

“She was working with kids who were hostages along with her to use her occupational therapy training and skills to do yoga with them, to keep their minds occupied, to keep their minds off of what was going on,” Schwitzer said.

Gat was staying with her parents in Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities, when militants broke into their home and kidnapped her on the morning of Oct. 7. Her parents were killed in the attack.

“It’s not just an issue for Jews and it’s not just an issue for Israelis…this is something that impacts us all,” he said.

Schwitzer tells WFAA that he hopes Americans recognize that the remaining hostages are of many different faiths from at least two dozen countries.

“It’s not a political issue. It’s a humanitarian issue,” Schwitzer said.

Schwitzer says he’s praying for healing for families who’ve lost loved ones and swift resolution of a situation that’s gone on too long.