October 7 · Personal story
Emma Cunio
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Home in Kibbutz Nir Oz
Current outcome
Released alive · November 27, 2023
Released alive after 52 days in captivity
01
Before October 7
Emma Cunio was three when she was abducted. She lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz with her twin sister Yuly and their parents, Sharon and David. Their community describes a home open to neighbours, with music, family celebrations, small pools on the lawn and a trampoline. Emma especially enjoyed joining her father at the barbecue. On the Simchat Torah weekend, Sharon’s sister Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia were visiting. The six family members were together when the attack began.
02
October 7
The family sheltered in the safe room as sirens sounded. David held the door shut against the attackers, but the house was set on fire. Smoke forced them to escape through the window. Armed men captured them after they came out. Their abduction separated the family. The Nir Oz account says Emma was initially with her aunt Danielle, then was taken away upon entering Gaza. Sharon, David and Yuly were held together, without knowing where Emma was or whether she had survived.
03
In captivity
In accounts given after her release, Sharon described hearing a child crying outside the hospital room where she, David and Yuly were confined. She recognised Emma’s voice. When a captor brought Emma into the room, she held her and sang a familiar song from home to calm her. The reunited family remained in a crowded hospital room. Sharon said adults shared their food with the twins, setting aside bread because meals did not arrive regularly. The children slept beside her on a small bed. They had to wait for permission to use the toilet, and the captors demanded silence. Shortly before the release, David was taken away from the women and children. Sharon described the four hugging before that separation, with the girls asking why their father had to leave.
04
Return
Emma, Yuly and Sharon were released on November 27, 2023, after 52 days in captivity. Danielle and Emilia had been released three days earlier. David remained in Gaza, as did his brother Ariel. The sisters’ return reunited part of the family in Israel, while their father’s absence continued. Sharon and the girls stayed near Sharon’s parents in central Israel.
05
After captivity
In January 2024, Sharon told AP that the twins were back in preschool. She described comforting them through nightmares while relatives continued campaigning for David’s return. David and Ariel returned alive on October 13, 2025. In a subsequent Ynet interview, Danielle described seeing David putting his daughters to bed and reading them a story. After almost two years apart, Emma’s family could begin rebuilding their life together.