Bedouin family hopes four relatives held in Gaza will return 'in peace'

Ali Ziadna, from the Israeli Bedouin city of Rahat, has given insulin to the Red Cross, hoping they will give it to his brother whom he said is one of more than 200 hostages taken in Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7 and dragged into captivity in Gaza.

Ali Ziadna, from the Israeli Bedouin city of Rahat, has given insulin to the Red Cross, hoping they will give it to his brother whom he said is one of more than 200 hostages taken in Israel by Hamas gunmen on Oct. 7 and dragged into captivity in Gaza. "He's diabetic," Ziadna told Reuters in a phone interview after a meeting with the Israeli president in Jerusalem. "Without it, his sugar could drop and he could collapse."

Ziadna's 53-year-old brother, Yosef Hamis Ziadna, his sons Hamza and Belal, and his daughter, Aisha, were working on the Holit farm on Israel's border with Gaza when the attack took place. Bedouin citizens, who are ethnically Arab and Muslim, make up about 4% of Israel's total population. They mostly live in the Negev desert and in northern Israel.

"They went to milk the cows and then what happened happened and they were kidnapped," Ziadna said of his family. "We still don't know what became of them." Wahid Al-Hazeel, CEO of the Cheda Kadima Association, which is helping Bedouin families of the missing and kidnapped, said at least 19 members of the Bedouin community were killed in the Hamas onslaught on Oct. 7. Al-Hazeel also said two are classified as missing and dozens of Bedouins were wounded.

At least 7 others - including the four members of Ziadna's family - were kidnapped, Ziadna told Reuters. Israeli President Issac Herzog visited the southern Bedouin city of Rahat on Thursday to offer support and meet with community leaders.

"I say to everyone around the world, that this is not a war between Jews and Muslims," Herzog said. "This is a war between the people of who seek to bring light and the people who seek to bring darkness." Ziadna said the Israeli government has paid "very good attention" to their case and government representatives, military officials, police officers and psychiatrists had come to their home.

"What we saw on October 7 does not represent Islam. Islam is a religion of respect, sensitivity, brotherhood, and love," said Herzog. Ziadna hopes his family can be returned safely.

"I don't understand the military, I'm not a military man. I'm a regular citizen whose brother went to work. My brother only knows how to farm. He and his children went to work," Ziadna said. "I am praying that everyone comes home in peace."

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)