Families still searching for missing loved ones after Hamas attack

The grueling waiting game continues for Moran Alony.

"To tell you that I'm positive about their situation, who is alive, who is dead — zero," said Moran Alony, who has six missing family members. 

Both of his sisters, his brother-in-law and three young nieces are all presumed to be hostages after the safe room in their kibbutz was found empty with no blood stains. 

The moments leading up to that realization were nothing short of traumatic, as he messaged back and forth with his sister during the early hours of Oct. 7. 

"She said the terrorists are in our house. We're not sure we're gonna make it, we love you. They sent us that they are burning the house, they're probably try to smoke them out of there or just burn them alive. Whatever works first. And at 11:20 I got a message, that is the message saying 'We're dying, help.' And that was the last communication we heard from them," said Alony. 

What are Israeli forces up against?

What are Israeli forces up against?

Recent videos shared by Hamas show how the group used drones to hit automated security turrets and communication towers on the border.

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Alony says he’s now getting information in pieces, but not from the Israeli government. He found a video he says shows his brother-in-law and only some of his family members being taken away in a truck — a first-hand account from a woman who escaped, who told him some of his family almost escaped, too. 

"The kids started crying and so they heard them and another group of terrorists just came up and pick them up," he said.  

He’s acutely aware of all the videos being shared of hostages and the potential that more horrifying videos may be coming. 

"Can anybody be prepared for that? I think that's the uncertainty. That's, that's the most painful thing," he said.   

At a kibbutz, a collective farm where everything from work to food is shared, neighbors are family. According to the Israeli military, one-fourth of the residents of Alony's family's kibbutz are now dead. 

"It's painful to understand that they weren't as safe as they thought," he said. 

Now his family’s faces are shared on social media and shown at pro-Israel rallies half a world away in New York. Alony knows it’s crucial to get his story out and reunite with loved ones. 

"My hopes is to see them again. Even if they all arrive, and even if they got back here, I'm not sure what we're going to get back," he said.