Baby Son Born While His Father Held Hostage in Gaza

March 25, 2024

by: Yael Ciechanover ~ Ynetnews

Monday, 25 March 2024 | Michal Lobanov gave birth to her second son less than a month ago, without her husband and the father of her children, Alex, whom Hamas kidnapped on October 7. “The hardest moment for me was the covenant [ceremony, held eight days after a Jewish boy’s birth]. Alex was so missed,” Michal says. “He wasn’t there to hold the baby or cradle him. It broke us.”

Alex was abducted to Gaza on October 7 from the Nova music festival. At the beginning of the month, Michal gave birth to their second son, Kai, brother to two-year-old Tom. “Alex’s absence is very noticeable, making the situation difficult,” Michal shared. “There are moments when I break down, but I need to be strong for my sons,” she says. “The atmosphere at home is relatively okay. In the end, there are two children who need to be raised and I need to be strong for them.”

Regarding the name given to their second son, she says: “Alex and I talked about this name [Kai]; he really liked it, and since he was abducted to Gaza, I hold onto this name. He also looks like him; they have the same nose.”

“Kai’s presence breaks all the negative energies in the house. Every time I hold him, I become calm. His presence fills us with hope, a lot of hope. Although he still doesn’t sleep through the night, I’ve gotten used to not sleeping.”

Since Kai’s birth, his older brother Tom has been helping his mother. “He is still too young to understand where Dad is or to try to explain it to himself, but he is very excited about Kai. He wants to help me, bring a pacifier or a blanket. He always wants to cuddle him.”

Throughout the pregnancy, Michal documented herself with Tom, and even now, when Alex has been in Gaza for 168 days, she makes sure to gather as many memories as possible for the moment when Alex returns home. “I take pictures of Alex with the little one, with the big one, on Purim [Feast of Esther], everything so that he has documentation so that he doesn’t miss it.”

Michal wants to convey a message to Alex: “I want to tell you that you have to come back and see how much Kai looks like you, how much Tom is waiting for you. You need to be strong, just as we are strong for you.”

Posted on March 25, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by Ynetnews on March 22, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

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