OPINION:
Daniel Ben Senior was a citizen of both the United States and Israel. She lived in Los Angeles until her parents needed her help, and she moved back to Israel.
She was just 34 when she was one of the 364 murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, at the Nova music festival.
In total, more than 1,200 people were killed that day in Israel. About 828 were civilians — including babies, children and senior citizens. An estimated 251 people were taken as hostages.
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Naor Hasidim and Sivan Elkabets were likely pulled out of their secure room and murdered on the couch in the living room of Sivan’s apartment. They had been together since high school and were just 23 when they were killed by savage Hamas terrorists.
Abu Sabila heard Odaya Swisa screaming early in the morning on Oct. 7, 2023. Odaya’s wife, Dolev, was killed, and he was in shock. Abu tried to get him and his two girls into the car to get to the police station. He did not know the Hamas killers had taken it over and were looking for more victims.
The two men were murdered in the car in front of the children. Romi, 6, and Lia, 3, were found lying on the floor of the car. Rescuers heard the girls scream, “Are you the police? Are you from Israel? Take us!”
Marcelle Frailich Kaplun was a high school science teacher. She and her husband, Dror, were murdered during the Hamas onslaught. Marcelle is survived by her three children and four grandchildren. Her daughter, Mor Strikovski, said that her mother “was always larger than life.”
Ben Shimoni was killed trying to save people who were attending the music festival. He initially made it to safety with four others in his car. He dropped them off and went back to save more people. He saved another group of five people, but after returning a third time to rescue others, he was gunned down at a checkpoint set up by the savage Hamas terrorists.
Ben and two others died during the ambush.
Another passenger, Romi Gonen, was taken hostage and held in the Gaza Strip until her release in January 2025. Ben saved at least nine lives that day and died trying to save three more.
Itai Zak and his wife, Etti, hid in a safe room with their 15-year-old son, Sagi, as they heard Hamas gunmen going through their neighborhood. They refused the demands by the terrorists to exit their shelter, and so the Hamas devils set their house on fire. The three were found hugging one another. They were survived by two other children who were not home at the time of the murders.
Dana Petrenko and Daniel Goldman, both in their early 20s, met in 2021 and had been inseparable ever since. They were attending the music festival when Hamas terrorists attacked. While trying to escape, Dana had a panic attack and Daniel protected her with his body.
They were murdered and found in an embrace, according to their friends.
Tohar Ben-Ayun was 24 and had already fought cancer and won. On Oct. 7, 2023, she and her boyfriend were murdered by Hamas killers. A friend called her “a ray of light, a pillar of strength to us and to so many people who love you so much,” according to a report in The Times of Israel.
Shiri Bibas was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, along with her sons, ages 9 months and 4. Her parents were also murdered in their home that day.
Later in 2023, Hamas claimed that Shiri and her children were killed in captivity. Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and the father of their children, was taken hostage that day and held in Gaza. He was eventually released in February 2025 — without knowing what happened to his family.
Just weeks later, Hamas released the bodies of Shiri and her little boys.
In addition to these and other horrific killings, numerous reports have documented the rapes and torture conducted on innocent civilians that day by savage Hamas terrorists. Haim Outmezgine, a rescue worker, said, “It was clear that they were trying to spread as much horror as they could — to kill, to burn alive, to rape.”
Another rescue worker told the Sunday Times, “Opening the body bags was scary as we didn’t know what we would see. They were all young women. Most in little clothing or shredded clothing and their bodies were bloodied particularly around their underwear and some women shot many times in the face as if to mutilate them.”
Even the United Nations acknowledges the atrocities.
What happened on Oct. 7, 2023, is still unimaginable to me. If the United States were attacked in the exact same proportion to its population as Israel was that day, it would equate to approximately 41,455 people killed and 8,671 hostages taken by savage Hamas terrorists.
We must never forget what happened and who did it.
• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
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