The world celebrated International Children’s Day on Monday, but Israel did not, as dozens of children are being held captive in Gaza. Instead, toys recovered from Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the sites of the massacre, were displayed for the world to understand the terror these children suffered.
Ten months, 4 years, 11 years old—these are among the ages of the innocent children held hostage by Hamas.
Actor and influencer Nate Buzolic, who attended the exposition, shared his reactions with The Media Line.
“Sadness, the injustice, children are the most innocent victims of this whole tragedy, and the fact that there [are] 40 children still in Gaza that [have been] kidnapped by Hamas and that the international community has said nothing, UNICEF has done nothing, [the] Red Cross has done nothing—it makes me angry because it seems like the whole world wants to talk about what’s happening to the Palestinians and not for a second, not for a moment, did the world mention what happened to the Israeli children,” he said.
In a somber commemoration of what should have been a joyous day, the famous photojournalist Ziv Koren went to one of the sites of the massacre and gathered toys that belonged to children who lived in this paradise that one Saturday morning became hell.
"Every toy has a story."
Koren told The Media Line about his experience: “In every house that I went into that was totally destroyed or burned, full of blood on the floor, we found toys that were broken. Every toy has a story.”
He added that just by seeing the burned bicycles and toys full of bullet holes, people can understand that what happened in these communities was a huge disaster.
The toys were showcased on Monday at a Toys R Us store located in a central Tel Aviv mall.
Shirley Peer Jaegermann, the CEO of Toys R Us Israel, told The Media Line that as the CEO of a toy business, she felt she needed to do something about the children who were kidnapped to Gaza, as well as those who were slaughtered in their homes. “We put this amazing show of the toys of Be’eri, of the kids of Be’eri—some of whom are not with us anymore,” she explained.
Dikla Manor Bloch, the founder of Free Our Kids! organization, which was also involved in arranging the display, told The Media Line why the toys have such symbolic importance. “The toys are witnesses of what happened in the kibbutzim,” she said, adding that it was important for the world to see the burned and damaged toys.
Residents of the towns raided by Hamas on October 7 endured horrific events, and among these people, as in every civilian community, are many children. The ones who had the luck to survive took with them a trauma that haunts them every day.
Lilach Sheffer Hadad, a member of Kibbutz Be’eri, mentioned the ongoing struggle of the surviving children. “They have nightmares, and they ask their parents every day, if there are bad guys outside the room, how can they go to sleep? Is it OK? Is it safe here?” she told The Media Line.
A perception of global indifference
Miki Zohar, Israel’s culture and sports minister, attended the exposition in a show of support.
“It says a lot about what happened on the 7th of October. And I think that all the world should realize [it] and see what happened here,” he told The Media Line.
Sheffer Hadad looked at the display and said, “It’s the toys of our children; they left them in their houses while they ran out under fire. Or, these are toys from dead children.”
Standing in front of the broken toys, Buzolic resolved to convey a message globally. “Hamas takes pleasure in what is behind me. They recorded it, they celebrated it, and they put it on the big screen in Gaza … so that all the people could watch,” he said.
The display serves as a reminder that each toy symbolizes an innocent child who had to go through experiences that not even an adult would bear. Some of them survived, some were murdered, and some are still held captive in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization.
“I think that every parent should look at this display and understand the grief of the families and get the feeling that something needs to be done to bring them back home today,” said Koren.
Zohar further noted that if people understand this tragedy through the toys’ display, “maybe around the world they will know that we must protect ourselves not only for Israel but also for the rest of the world.”
The prevailing sentiment at the event was a perception of global indifference.
“If you really cared about children, you would care about what happened on the 7th of October, and you would care about the radicalization of the Palestinian children in Gaza. It seems that you only care when they are being used by Hamas, the … bodies are being paraded around as marketing tools to continue their campaign of destruction,” said Buzolic.
Buzolic calls on the global community to act in the best interests of all children. “Wake up, start having critical thoughts. If you really wanted a future for both Israelis and Palestinians—it starts with the removal of Hamas.”
The Jerusalem Post and OneFamily are working together to help support the victims of the Hamas massacre and the soldiers of Israel who have been drafted to ensure that it never happens again.