October 7 · Personal story
Doron Steinbrecher
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Kfar Aza
Current outcome
Released alive · January 19, 2025
Released alive on January 19, 2025, after 471 days in captivity.
01
Before October 7
Doron Steinbrecher lived in Kibbutz Kfar Aza and worked as a veterinary nurse. Her aunt Merav Meller said Doron had loved animals, especially dogs, since childhood; that helped shape her choice of profession. After alarms sounded, she would run to the clinic to check whether the animals had been frightened. She also loved cooking and surprising relatives with healthy, gluten-free dishes at family gatherings. Her own favorite meal was schnitzel with mashed potatoes.
02
Abduction
On October 7, 2023, Steinbrecher was in her Kfar Aza apartment, speaking by phone with her mother and hiding under the bed. When attackers entered, she placed two laundry baskets over her head. In her Ynetnews interview, she recalled that one attacker first said no one was there, then noticed the refrigerator pushed against the door. They fired at the bed and missed her head, lifted the mattress and found her. Four armed men pulled her out through a window and took her to Gaza.
03
Captivity
In a first-person essay published on May 28, 2025, Steinbrecher described spending 450 of her 471 days in captivity underground, without light or sky. She did not know when she would see her parents, family or friends again. Explosions overhead brought fear that the end was near; sleepless nights, silence and the pounding of her own heartbeat stayed in her memory. Each day felt endless. Milestones such as 100, 200 and 300 days brought another painful reminder that time was passing while she remained in captivity. She described holding on to the hope that someone would remember her and fight to bring her home.
04
Return
After 471 days, Steinbrecher returned alive with Emily Damari and Romi Gonen under the ceasefire and hostage-release agreement. Her aunt Merav Meller recalled that Doron’s first question when she saw her mother was whether everyone in the family was alive. Relatives gave her room to recover and did not press her for details about captivity while she was still processing the experience.
05
After return
In March 2026, Steinbrecher spoke about freedom in everyday life: choosing what to eat, where to go, what to wear, and when to call family or friends. She said that during the previous Passover, only three months after her release, she had not begun processing what she had experienced. A year later, she expected to celebrate with family and enjoy sitting together without guilt over hostages still in Gaza.