October 7 · Personal story
Gal Goldstein-Almog
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Kfar Aza
Current outcome
Released alive · November 26, 2023
Released and returned to Israel with his mother and siblings on 26 November 2023 after 51 days in captivity.
01
Before October 7
Gal was 11 and lived with his family in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.
02
October 7
Gal sheltered with his mother Chen and siblings as attackers entered their home in Kfar Aza. His father Nadav and older sister Yam were killed; Chen and the three younger children were taken to Gaza.
03
Captivity
In an interview after the family’s release, Chen and Agam described the children keeping busy with drawing, writing and playing during captivity. Chen and her three children spent the first week in a tunnel, then were moved to an apartment and moved between locations during the following weeks. Chen recalled that Gal first cried when a radio interview confirmed that his father and sister had been killed. The boys drew, wrote and played to keep themselves occupied, while their mother and Agam tried to protect them from the guards’ shouting.
04
Return
Gal returned to Israel on 26 November 2023 with Chen, Agam and Tal after 51 days in captivity. A Times of Israel photograph caption identified Gal and Tal at Hatzerim after their release, playing with toys and games.
05
After the return
The family returned to a home without Nadav and Yam. Their grandmother Varda described her excitement at seeing the children smiling alongside the grief for her son and granddaughter. Chen later spoke about learning to live with the loss while keeping the family’s memories of a happy home.