Bittersweet Mother’s Day for Israeli moms whose husbands remain in Hamas captivity

This Mother’s Day, these women carry not only the responsibilities of motherhood but also the weight of a national tragedy.

By Jewish Breaking News

As families across the globe prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day, three Israeli mothers will spend the day under the heavy shadow of absence.

Their husbands—David Cunio, Omri Miran, and Elkana Bohbot—remain in Hamas captivity, while they shoulder the immense burden of raising young children alone, holding their families together, and fighting every day to keep hope alive.

For Sharon Cunio, whose twin daughters Emma and Julie were abducted with her and her husband from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, the return to freedom was only partial.

After 52 days, she and her daughters were released—but David was left behind. Now 4 years old, the girls have spent more than a third of their lives without their father.

“Half of me is not here, and it’s half of the girls as well,” Sharon said. “I want him to see what his girls became… It’s unbearable.”

She told the New York Post as she recounted the everyday struggle to maintain their connection to David, to remind them of who he is, and to help them heal from trauma.

“People say mothers are Wonder Women,” she added, “but we are only Wonder Women because of our Supermen.”

Lishay Miran, also from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, is raising her daughters, Roni (3) and Alma (2), alone after witnessing her husband, Omri, being dragged away by terrorists on October 7.

“Since that day, I have two jobs: I’m the wife of a hostage, and I’m the mother of two daughters who saw it happen,” she said.

Roni still remembers the horror and now tells bedtime stories about their father to her younger sister. “Alma only knows her dad from a poster,” Lishay explained. “Roni helps her understand who he is.”

Rivka Bohbot faces the same void. Her husband Elkana was abducted from the Nova music festival, where she served as an organizer.

Their son Re’em, just 4, asks daily when his father will return. “There is a hole in our lives,” she said. “As a mother, I try to be both parents—but I can’t be both.”

This Mother’s Day, these women carry not only the responsibilities of motherhood but also the weight of a national tragedy.

Rivka’s message is simple: “If your family is whole—look at them, hold them, and say thank you. Don’t wait.”