Monday marks one year since the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.
More than 1,000 Israelis were killed and there are still some 100 hostages being held in Gaza, including one with ties to Connecticut.
“Time and the world in general can only begin again when my son, Sagui, is free,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, a Bloomfield native, said.
Dekel-Chen said his son, Sagui, was taken hostage during the Hamas terror attack on Israel back on Oct. 7, 2023.
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“For the last almost 365 days, it's been a living hell, each day a little worse,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen said.
Sagui is among the seven American citizens who are still missing.
The 36-year-old’s wife and young daughters are waiting for him to come home.
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“And we miss him so much. My daughter is asking about him every single day,” Avital Dekel-Chen, Sagui's wife, said.
Hope that Sagui and the other hostages are released was part of the goal of a walk in West Hartford on Sunday.
The group has been doing this every week for a year now.
“To show our support for the Israeli people and the current real battle between good and evil that's going on there. The battle to secure not just Israeli freedoms, but as we see it, base American freedoms around the globe,” Tuvia Brander, Young Israel of West Hartford, said.
Sagui’s wife hasn’t seen him since he put the family in a safe room and went out to defend the kibbutz.
She was pregnant at the time and keeps texting him updates about the kids, even if he can’t read them.
“I feel Sagui's alive. And we must to do everything to bring him home,” Avital Dekel-Chen said.
The family says the last time they had proof Sagui was alive was in November.
They are hoping the U.S. can do more to help with the release of the hostages.
