October 7 · Personal story
Aisha Alziadana
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Holit
Current outcome
Released alive · November 30, 2023
Released from captivity on 30 November 2023.
01
Life before
Aisha was 17 and lived with her Bedouin Alziadana family in Kafr Ziadana near Rahat. She was engaged to her cousin Rizeq and planned to marry after finishing high school. Her father, Yosef, had worked at Kibbutz Holit’s dairy farm for 17 years. On 7 October, she joined him and her brothers there and picked olives while they worked in the cowshed.
02
The abduction
After the family finished milking cows, sirens sounded at about 06:30. Gunfire and explosions drew closer to the barn. At about 07:38, attackers seized Yosef, his children and two Thai workers. Yosef and Hamza spoke with them in Arabic. The captors led the family on foot to the Gaza border and covered their eyes as they crossed.
03
Captivity
In an interview published on 21 December 2023, Aisha recalled that she, Bilal, Hamza and Yosef first had a room with light, water, a toilet and a shower. After several days, the light went out. She said most of their captivity passed in near-darkness, with little water and sometimes seawater; their questions went unanswered, and she feared shelling would kill them. Yosef told the children stories from the Quran and his life. Aisha said that during those weeks she learned more about her father than in her whole life.
04
Release and return
Aisha and Bilal were released on 30 November 2023. Aisha said the goodbye was painful: they had to leave their father and Hamza behind. Before they left, Yosef asked them to tell Naima and the family that he loved them and hoped to return soon. Aisha said she was glad to go home but worried about the two still in captivity. Naima described the reunion as happy and painful; during captivity she had dreamed of preparing the children’s favorite dishes.
05
After their return
Naima prepared the favorite dishes she had dreamed of cooking for Aisha and Bilal during captivity. In January 2025, Yosef’s body was recovered from a tunnel in Rafah on 7 January; the IDF announced his recovery and death in captivity on 8 January. Hamza’s remains were recovered with his father, but forensic identification and family notification came on 10 January.