‘This is not a world away’: Dallas woman mourns Israeli cousin killed in Gaza

Communities around the world are grieving and protests have erupted in Israel this weekend after the bodies of six hostages were found in Gaza, the Associated Press reported.

In Dallas, the news hits close to home for communities connected to the killed hostages.

LeElle Slifer, a Dallas attorney, said hearing that her second cousin, Carmel Gat, was among the dead, felt “surreal.” Gat, 40, was kidnapped on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants and has been in captivity ever since.

“Every time I hear any reports of bodies in Gaza that they found of hostages, I think, Oh my God, please don’t let it be Carmel,” Slifer said.

Slifer, who grew up in Fort Worth, was born just six months apart from Gat. Slifer’s mom and Gat’s parents are cousins, and the family is close, she said. On family trips to Israel, Slifer remembers having sleepovers and playing outside together. She remembers picking grapes off the vine with Gat in Israel, making labneh together and eating fresh pita.

“When you’re kids, you don’t ever think about all the evil that’s in the world, or that something like this could ever happen,” Slifer said.

For nearly 11 months, Slifer and her family have been waiting for Gat’s release. Since Oct. 7, more than 100 of the around 250 people taken hostage in an attack by Hamas have been freed, according to the AP. They were sure Gat would be released, too, Slifer said.

Gat was “free-spirited,” Slifer said, and very spiritual. She was an occupational therapist in Tel Aviv, loved yoga and would travel to India often.

Her family in Israel confirmed to Slifer that Gat was found dead with the other hostages, shot in the head in a tunnel in Rafah. The Israeli military said the six hostages were killed shortly before they were to be rescued, the AP reported.

“It’s so hard to think that we failed Carmel and that the world failed her,” Slifer said.

Slifer said Gat loved her family fiercely. On the day she was kidnapped, she was visiting her parents in Be’eri, a kibbutz in southern Israel. She had just been traveling in India, Slifer said, so she decided to come home.

Slifer said Gat was asleep when the attack happened. Gat’s mom was killed, shot in the street of the kibbutz, and Gat was taken hostage. Other family members escaped, some hiding in a ditch overnight for 12 hours, Slifer said.

After a deal between Israel and Hamas in November, dozens of hostages were released, including Yarden Roman-Gat, a relative of Gat. Slifer said it was “complete heartbreak” when Gat didn’t make it out with the others that month.

Released hostages shared that Gat taught the younger hostages yoga while held in Gaza.

“She was doing yoga with those kids to help keep them grounded and centered,” Slifer said. “It’s just a testament to her and her spirit that she was doing that.”

Joel Schwitzer, the regional director for the American Jewish Community in Dallas, said he admired hearing how Gat tried to help other hostages “cope with the un-copeable.”

“When you can find those little bits of light within the darkness, it gives you hope,” Schwitzer said.

Schwitzer said the Jewish community in Dallas is “collectively in shock and mourning” after the weekend’s news.

“It is meaningful when you tell your Jewish friends and neighbors that you’re concerned about them and you care about them,” Schwitzer said.

Gat’s family in the U.S. and in Israel have been working to spread awareness about the hostages in Gaza, Slifer said. Israel believes 101 hostages remain still are missing, according to the AP, including 35 who are thought to be dead.

“Every person would do the same thing for their own family,” Slifer said. “The world needs to start treating these hostages like their family.”

The other hostages confirmed dead this weekend, according to the AP, are Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Alexander Lobanov, 33; Almog Sarusi, 27; and Ori Danino, 25. The news of the six deaths has prompted more urgent calls for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the AP reported.

“I hope that we can get the remaining hostages out as quickly and as safely as possible,” Schwitzer said. “Only then can the rebuilding start and can everyone in Israel, in Gaza, in the West Bank [and] around the world, begin to heal.”

Slifer said she would continue to speak out about the hostages, raise awareness and call for their return. She hopes the recent deaths will be a turning point to get the others home.

“This is not a world away,” Slifer said. “It seems to surprise people that someone in their own community has a family member who’s being held hostage in Gaza. I tell them this is very real and it is very close to your home, and you should care about this.”