October 7 · Personal story
Shoshan Haran
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Be’eri
Current outcome
Released alive · November 25, 2023
Released with five relatives after 50 days; Tal Shoham remained captive.
01
Life before Be’eri
Shoshan Haran grew up in Kibbutz Be’eri and studied agriculture at the Hebrew University. She met Avshalom there. After graduation they travelled around the world for more than a year, then returned to Be’eri, where their three children, Adi, Yuval and Shaked, were born. An agronomist, she founded Fair Planet to help small farmers in Africa gain access to quality seeds and agricultural knowledge. Two days before October 7, she accompanied her sister Lilach to a Women Wage Peace gathering. She was preparing to fly to the Netherlands for Fair Planet meetings on the evening of October 7.
02
October 7
On October 6, Adi arrived in Be’eri with her husband Tal and their children Naveh and Yahel; Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam also stayed overnight. In the morning, Shoshan was preparing her grandchildren’s favorite chocolate milk when the sirens sounded at 6:29. The family went into the protected room. After failing to open its door, attackers struck the window with a bulldozer. Avshalom and Tal decided to surrender, fearing a grenade would be thrown through the opening. Shoshan was taken with Adi, the children, Sharon and Noam; she was separated from Avshalom and Tal.
03
Captivity
Haran spent 50 days in captivity with three generations of family. She described moving between apartments and closely watching the captors because she feared any change could endanger them. When nearby explosions frightened the children, adults covered them with cushions and their bodies, and told them to whisper and stay away from windows. Haran said she focused on the present and bringing her family home. The children knew they were in Gaza and heard bombing.
04
Return
On November 25, 2023, Shoshan returned to Israel after 50 days in captivity with Adi, Yahel, Naveh, Sharon and Noam. Tal remained in Gaza. At the hospital, her children told her that Avshalom had been murdered. When officials issued her a replacement identity card for the one destroyed in the attack, it listed her as a widow. She later recalled the pain of seeing that word only hours after learning of his death.
05
After the return
Shoshan also learned that her sister Lilach, Lilach’s husband Eviatar and his caregiver Paul Castelvi had been murdered on October 7. She campaigned for Tal’s return, traveling repeatedly to meet leaders abroad. In a January 2026 interview, she said his release after 505 days had allowed the family to breathe again. She had begun writing in November 2024, describing how putting memories on the page reduced the constant replay of captivity in her mind. Her memoir was dedicated to Avshalom. Living in Herzliya at the time of the interview, she said visits from her children and grandchildren sustained her, and that she wanted her life to include the years before October 7 as well as everything that followed.