New Delhi: Television actor Madhura Naik recently shared on Instagram that her cousin sister and brother-in-law were killed on October 7 amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. She has now shared that around 300 of her family members are stranded in Israel.
Madhura, whose mother is an Israeli and father a Hindu, told Hindustan Times that even now about 300 members of her family are stuck in Israel.
“My family informed me about them missing, and only after 24 hours were their bodies identified. Their children in the car along with them, were taken back by the officers on duty,” she told Hindustan Times as she spoke about her cousin and brother-in-law.
The actor, known for her work in TV shows ‘Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahani’ and ‘Naagin’, also shared a video of her visit to Israel early this year when she faced a similar situation. Madhura posted a video on Instagram and wrote, “This is a video of when I took my nephew to the park to get fresh air after hours of hiding in a bomb shelter on 10th may 2023! WE HAD TO RUN BACK INTO THE SHELTER AS THE MISSILES STARTED DROPPING RIGHT ABOVE US IN THE SKIES! THATS WHAT WAR LOOKS LIKE! Is this a life a child deserves?
Is this what anyone deserves? And here I talk for BOTH PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI LIVES! THE WAR STARTS WITH VIOLENCE DOESNT HAVE TO END IN VIOLENCE, But terrorism in any religion must be CONDEMNED! TERORRISM AND VIOLENCE is not an ACT OF RELIGION OR GODLINESS! THINK- THIS IS THE TIME TO THINK!! #humanitymustrise”
In a conversation with PTI, the actor recalled her visit and said, “I was also stuck in a safe house. It was a bad situation even then but it was not like this. What we are seeing right now is horrible.”
She told PTI that her uncle texted to inform her that her cousin was “missing” and also asked the actor to use her social media following to help locate her.
“Then we put out a picture of her, saying that she is missing. We got to know the next day (October 8) that they (from the authorities) had identified her body. She was dead. She was shot in the car while she was driving with her husband and kids to her dad’s house,” Naik told PTI.
“Prayers are not going to help anyone. It is not that you pray and miracles happen overnight. There is the situation of war because of certain geopolitical reasons. It is only the civilians that get hurt in this war,” she added.
Naik also talked about the hatred coming her way following her social media post in which she talked about her family members being killed.
“What is shocking is when I made the video, it came from a place of pain, anger and hate about what is happening, and instead of support, I am getting a lot of abusive messages,” she said.
The conflict began after Hamas militants stormed into Israel on Saturday, bringing gunbattle to its streets for the first time in decades. More than 1,800 lives have already been claimed on both sides and perhaps hundreds more. Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza hold more than 150 soldiers and civilians hostage, according to Israel.