Ziv Gome’s family wakes up every morning in the Israeli resort city of Eilat and waits.

It’s been 10 days since Hamas militants violently kidnapped Gome’s two nephews, ages 12 and 16, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, an Israeli farming community about a mile from the Gaza border.

Gome, a former Squirrel Hill resident, said he has been frantically making phone calls and consuming Israeli TV, which has told his family little. Government intelligence officials have said even less.

“I want to hope they have information they can’t share,” said Gome, 49, who works in technology and lives near Be’er Sheva, the largest city in Israel’s Negev desert. “We know they left alive, alive and well. But, where they are now, we have no idea. How they are now, we have no idea. I’m just speechless.”

Civilians and soldiers, young and old, Israelis and non-Israelis, were among at least 199 people in southern Israel who Hamas militants took captive Oct. 7, when Gaza-based gunmen smashed through border fortifications and killed more than 1,400 people in Israel.

The attack is believed to be the worst civilian massacre in Israeli history.

U.S. officials on Tuesday called on Hamas to immediately release all hostages, including American citizens.

“There should be no reason for them to have any hostages in the first place,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on NBC’s “Today” show. “And No. 2, we’re working very, very hard with our partners in the region to secure the release of all the hostages.”

Kibbutz Nir Oz is a community decimated.

About 80 of its roughly 400 residents are missing and 20 more are confirmed dead, Gome said. Some of the missing are babies; the oldest is 86.

Terrorists burned half of the kibbutz’s homes beyond recognition and looted the rest, Gome said. They stole or set fire to every car in the village and every piece of farming equipment. They burned the village’s dining hall and its once-bustling grocery store to the ground.

More than 6,900 people have donated to The IsraelGives Foundation to help rebuild Kibbutz Nir Oz and support its residents. You can donate here.

Gome said he didn’t want to identify his nephews by name, for fear Hamas will retaliate if the Gomes appear friendly toward American reporters. On a frequently circulated poster promoting awareness of the missing, the two boys are represented only by an Israeli flag.

Residents have nowhere to live in the kibbutz — and nowhere to mourn.

“We can’t sit shiva because we don’t know where the dead are. It’s a community in total shock,” Gome said.

The two boys, like most in the kibbutz, awoke to rocket fire early Oct. 7. They ran to hide in a mamad, a kind of bunker or safe room, when word of on-the-ground attacks started spreading, Gome said.

The boys heard explosions and gunfire outside, panicked and called their mother, Renana, on her cellphone. One of them struggled to hold the door closed so Hamas couldn’t reach them.

“They were alone and they were scared. (Renana) was with them on the phone when (Hamas) broke in,” Gome said. “The young one, he said, ‘Don’t take me! I’m too young!’”

The boys’ father and his girlfriend also were kidnapped. The remaining family and kibbutz residents trekked to Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city, which sits on the tip of the Red Sea, to plan their next move.

“I’m not naive, I know not all of (the hostages) will make it,” Gome said. “Even those that will not come back, that closure is super-important.”

Gome was born and grew up in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Though he hasn’t lived there for about 25 years, he still considers it home. His mother is buried there. A dozen immediate family members still lived there, at least as of Oct. 6.

A decade ago, Gome and his family moved to Pittsburgh, settling near the Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh in Squirrel Hill. From 2007 to 2009, Gome worked for an Israel-based company that conducted business with UPMC. The oldest of his three kids, now ages 16 to 21, attended Community Day School on Squirrel Hill’s Forward Avenue.

“We loved the Pittsburgh experience,” Gome said, in a rare moment of levity. “The Steelers, you know, I still watch them. I want to see if Pickett can take us anywhere.”

Back in Israel, Gome is struggling to keep a steely resolve.

“Everything seemed to be quote-unquote ‘fine,’” Gome said. “It’s sort of the situation where you never know when the next missile is going to come.”

Recently, he stared at the poster of the abducted Kibbutz Nir Oz residents and grew somber.

“I’m seeing my friends, my peers, people I grew up, their families, I’m seeing my kindergarten teacher,” Gome said. “And they’re gone. They’re gone. It’s heartbreaking.”

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