The story is in all the major international news outlets: Ohad Munder-Zichri "celebrated" his 9th birthday last Monday. Not at home, with his family and friends, but in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza, together with more than 200 hostages taken during the devastating Oct. 7 incursion. Ohad is a chess champion and a champion with the Rubik's cube. He has sent out an invitation to friends to celebrate with him. In a video interview Sofi Polgar tells us about this remarkable young boy.
KFAR SABA, Israel — Ohad Munder-Zichri turned 9 on Monday. But instead of celebrating at home with his family and friends, he was somewhere in Gaza, one of more than
His mother and grandparents are also hostages. Now, his father shudders every time he hears of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, worried his family may be hit.
It's Ohad Munder-Zichri's ninth birthday. But instead of celebrating at home with his family and friends on Monday, he is believed to be somewhere in Gaza, one of more than 200 hostages held by Hamas since the militants' devastating Oct. 7 incursion. The fourth-grader from the central Israeli city of Kfar Saba was nabbed along with his mother and grandparents during a holiday visit to his grandparents’ kibbutz of Nir Oz along the border with Gaza. Ohad’s beloved uncle was killed in the attack. The boy, his mom and grandparents disappeared with the only thread of information about them coming from a cellphone signal traced to Gaza. The uncertainty is agonizing for Ohad’s grief-stricken father, Avi Zichri.