Chaim Peri (Chaim ben Nechama), 80, has been held captive in Gaza since he was abducted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. He was taken from his home at Kibbutz Nir Oz, and his son and his son’s girlfriend were killed in the attack. Peri’s whereabouts were unknown until a kibbutz neighbor and freed captive Yocheved Lifshitz reported seeing him alive in Gaza. He later appeared in a Hamas video.

Chaim is a film lecturer and activist. He volunteered with The Road to Recovery, an Israeli organization transporting people needing medical care from the Gaza Strip to hospitals in Israel. “All his life, my father was a peace activist,” said Lior Peri, Chaim’s son. A metalworker and artist, Chaim makes large sculptures which have been displayed in the kibbutz fields.