BEACHWOOD, Ohio — The Jewish Federation of Cleveland on Monday marked the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel, with a survivor recounting how she and her family narrowly escaped being taken hostage.
Rotem Sadeh, who lived with her husband and two children in Sderot, Israel, near the Gaza strip, said during Monday’s gathering that her family hid in a safe room in their apartment as militants went door-to-door, according to WKYC Channel 3. About 3,000 people attended the event.
“We lived on the first floor,” Sadeh said. “So we knew we were next in line.” She said the militants did not find them, but about 250 other people were taken hostage.
Monday’s gathering in Beachwood was one of hundreds across the U.S. and the world to mark one year since the Oct. 7 surprise cross-border attack, which killed about 1,200 people. The war in the Gaza Strip is ongoing and nearly 100 people remain in captivity, although it’s feared that many might be dead.
It’s estimated about 41,000 people have been killed in the fighting in Gaza and nearly 2 million have been displaced.
In New York, a crowd gathered for an evening remembrance ceremony in Central Park. About a mile away, pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on a corner, reports say, demonstrating ongoing divisions in the U.S.
“The unfathomable horrors I experienced that morning have transformed me, along with every single Israeli and every single Jew,” Natalie Sanandaji, a survivor from a music festival where the attackers killed hundreds, told the audience in Central Park.
Sadeh said during Monday’s gathering in Cleveland she’s hoping for a peaceful resolution, although she’s unsure if she’ll ever return to Sderot, WKYC reports. She still lives in Israel.
“I honestly believed it was possible to bridge any gap,” she said Monday. “That all humans want to live peacefully.”
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
