Ex-hostage’s fund drive raises over $600,000

JERUSALEM (AFP) — An Israeli woman held hostage in Gaza with her two young daughters said she has launched a fundraiser to help rebuild her life, collecting more than $600,000 in a single day.

Doron Katz-Asher, 36, was among 251 people abducted during Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

She was released in November of that year during a series of prisoner-hostage exchanges that accompanied a brief truce.

“Today, I’m putting shame aside. I refuse to let my captivity define me. I choose to heal and to rebuild. But now, at my most vulnerable point, I realize I can’t do this alone,” she said Wednesday in an Instagram post with a link to the fundraiser.

“The emotional burden is heavy, and the financial fears are real. I never thought I would ask for help,” Katz-Asher wrote.

By Thursday afternoon, the donation counter showed she had raised more than 2.3 million shekels (about $640,000), close to her target of 2.5 million shekels.

Katz-Asher was abducted along with her two daughters, aged four and six, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where she had been visiting her mother.

Her mother, Efrat Katz, was killed during the attack, as was her brother, Ravid.