October 7 · Personal story
Amit Shani
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
His family home in Kibbutz Be’eri
Current outcome
Released alive · November 29, 2023
Released alive November 29, 2023, during the temporary ceasefire deal.
01
Life before October 7
Amit Shani grew up in Kibbutz Be’eri, where running and surfing were part of his life. His aunt Zohar Weissman described a teenager who had surfed since third grade, listened to rap and hip-hop, especially Israeli artists, and followed Juventus. He hoped to travel to a Champions League match. His mother Tal had four children. On October 7, Amit and his two younger sisters were at her home; his bedroom was the family’s safe room.
02
October 7
Tal gathered Amit and his younger sisters in his bedroom safe room. Around noon, gunmen broke in and marched the family through smoke along a kibbutz road. Amit, neighbor Yossi Sharabi and visiting family friend Ofir Engel were ordered into a small black car. Tal begged attackers to take her instead of Amit; one raised a gun but spared her. Amit was tied and taken away. His father Nir survived. The family later sheltered in a hotel by the Dead Sea.
03
In captivity
Amit turned sixteen on October 21, 2023, in captivity. After his release, he described longing for home and feeling abandoned in Gaza. He recalled fear of both the captors and the bombing, and uncertainty about surviving to the next morning. While he was captive, his father Nir and relatives lived in a Dead Sea hotel with other displaced Be’eri residents. Five family members shared two rooms. Nir had survived the burning of his own home; the family waited for Amit without a home to return to.
04
Return
Amit was released alive November 29, 2023, during the ceasefire deal. He reached Israel early the next morning and went to Schneider Children’s Medical Center. Hospital staff provided medical and psychosocial support. On December 3, after several days of treatment, he was discharged to his family.
05
After return
On January 1, 2024, Amit returned to Be’eri with other released residents and walked among the remains of their homes. He recounted how October 7 began with a familiar rocket alert before an intrusion warning, grenades and RPG fire. The attackers entered the house, broke belongings and took the family outside. Back at the kibbutz, he spoke publicly about captivity and urged that those still held should not be abandoned again. The visit brought him back to his community and the destruction his family had survived.