The army of Israel has installed a control point at the entrance of Nir Oz. Later, the photos of the citizens of this place that were kidnapped are placed on both sides of the road that leads to the homes.
The photo of Ariel Cunio and that of others kidnapped in Nir Oz at the entrance to this Kibutz in southern Israel. (Roger Zuzunaga / El Comercio).
On October 7, 2023, 47 people were killed by Hamas in Nir Oz and 76 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
It’s Thursday April 24, Day of the memory of the martyrs and heroes of the Holocaust in Israel. At 10 in the morning, the sirens sound throughout the country for two minutes, as a moment of silence to remember the victims.
Silvia Cunio during the two minutes of silence for the victims of the Holocaust. (Photo: Roger Zuzunaga / El Comercio).
Silvia Cunioof Argentine origin, lived in Nir Oz from 1988 to 2023. “It was a paradise, as they say, 95% was paradise and 5% a disaster, for missiles and others”says.
He is the mother of four men: Lucas, Eitan, David and Ariel.
Remember that on October 6 there were 20 people at home, all their children with their most guest families. They had dinner together and had fun before Shabbatwhich is Saturday.
The next day, at 6:29 in the morning, “all the disaster began, which for me It is a horror movie that does not end”
“Everyone was at home. I was with my husband. All my children live in Nir Ozso the same thing was happening as I was living at dawn, ”he recalls.
The family began to communicate by WhatsApp. “My youngest son, Ariel, said there are terrorists at the Kibutzwhich were disguised as soldiers. They had seen them in Kibutz’s nursing. What happens? We said. Well, capable that there are two, three terrorists who entered, will grab them and that’s it, we think. ”
“But it was not so. In the end they were not, as they told us, 200 or 400 terrorists, there were thousands, because not only were the terrorists, there were also people from Loop that came to steal, to destroy, to burn and others ”, Silvia states.
At 8:28 in the morning Silvia received Ariel’s last message. He said they had entered a horror movie.
“That was his last message, until today, we don’t know anything.”
Ariel Cunio was kidnapped with his girlfriend Arbel Yehud. She was released January 30, 2025after spending 481 days of captivity in Gaza. His release was part of the last agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Silvia Cunio at the entrance of her son Ariel’s house, whose image is next to her girlfriend Arbel. (Photo: Roger Zuzunaga / El Comercio).
Next to Silvia we went to the house of Ariel. In the window and at the door are the photos of Arbel Yehud and Silvia’s son. The armchairs in the room are on top of each other and on the floor there are bullet traces. “We already fixed something,” he says.
A bullet on the floor of Ariel’s house. (Photo: Roger Zuzunaga / El Comercio).
Silvia says that Ariel tried to secure the door with the bolt, but could not prevent her from entering her house. The terrorists took him out of the bed.
“They had a dog that had been adopted for two weeks, he was two months old, small, shoot her, here are the shots, all this was full of blood and the dog’s hair. Here it was that he sent me the last message telling me that we entered a horror movie. From here they took it out, until today “Silvia tells.
Ariel He was 26 when he was kidnapped, he turned 27 on June 12, 2024. “I hope it does not arrive at June 12 and return before, not to pass your second birthday in Gaza.”
Another son of Silvia, David, He was kidnapped with his wife Sharon and his three -year -old twin daughters, Emma and Yuli.
Sharon and the girls were released at the end of November 2023 as part of the first hostage exchange agreement.
Silvia states that In February 2025, the family received a sign of life from David through a recently released hostagewho informed having seen it in Loop.
Lucasthe eldest son lived in front of his parents’ house. The terrorists entered their home through the window and tried to open the security door where I was hidden, but they couldn’t. They found money and left, after destroying part of the house.
The action that saved Silvia and her husband
Silvia Cunio in her son Ariel’s house. (Roger Zuzunaga / El Comercio).
Silvia narrates that the terrorists tried to enter their home four times. “They were endless minutes. We listened to shouts and laughs, and that threw things, they wanted to destroy the house, they were stealing everything they could.”
She and her husband, cancer patient, took refuge in the security room. Silvia went out to look for water because she didn’t know how long they would spend in the place. When he went through the kitchen window, I lifted the curtain and saw that he in front of his eldest son, and that Terrorists entered and came out, taking everything they could.
Her husband was able to secure the security room door with the Picaporte. Then, he grabbed a scarf and tied it in the Picaporte, put a gymnastics device below the Picaporte, and with that he prevented the terrorists from entering.
They were in the security room from 6:30 in the morning until almost 5 in the afternoon, when Israeli soldiers entered.
“I will not return to Nir Oz”
Silvia Cunio with the images of her children Ariel and David, kidnapped by Hamas in Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 and taken to Gaza. (Roger Zuzunaga / El Comercio).
“We do not return to Nir Oz. Unfortunately, we can’t go back. I could come back because unfortunately I got used to it. I am not a girl, but my children will not come to visit us. And we are a very united family. Every Friday we met at my house or at my children’s house, and we all ate together ”, Silvia says.
He says that his neighbor, who lived in Nir Oz temporarily, received the visit of a couple who ended up murdered by Hamas, while the owners of the house took them.
“Everyone has a neighbor to which something happened and it will not be possible that we can return”reflect.
“I keep standing for my kidnapped children and for all the people, like you journalists, who give us strength,” he adds.
What do you think has not entered the second phase of this last truce, which is when it touched the release of all hostages, including their children? He asked him Commerce.
“We expected that there are again captives and it was not so. I’m not going to say that my heart broke because if not, it wouldn’t be here, but it hurt a lot, It hurt me a lot that everyone in power in Israel They have not been able to continue with the exits of the kidnapped people, “he replies.
“We hope that in the government they are doing something, because if it would not be a shame left to people, our brothers, who are inside Gaza.”
