Popular Israeli musician Aviv Gefen released a new song called Zricha Shchora (Black Sunrise) Wednesday featuring 17-year-old Mia Leimberg, a released Israeli hostage who returned from Gaza.
More stories:
"As an artist, you cannot stand idly by, and eventually, the difficult and heavy emotions must come out," Gefen said following the song's release.
"I admit that I refrained from writing for two months after the attack on October 7 and, like everyone, I helped as much as possible wherever I could and woke up from the same nightmares as everybody else,” he told Ynet.
“The most painful thing is knowing that this won’t just pass, and it will take years to recover from this blow if at all that touched everyone in Israel. The same evening that Mia Leimberg returned home with her dog in her hands was an iconic image that was burned into me. Innocence and youth leaving these ruthless and cruel hands," he added.
"When I realized she was a musician from Jerusalem, I couldn't help but reach out to her, and she identified with the song to a large degree. We met several times, and I was impressed by her," he said. "This war isn’t a ballad; war is anger, despair, and hope, and primarily the concern for what was and what will be in the future."
Leimberg spent 53 days in captivity along with her mother, Gabriela, and her aunt, Clara Marman, in Gaza. The three were kidnapped from Marman's home in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7. Upon their release, a video showed Mia getting into an International Red Cross vehicle holding her dog, Bella.