Karina Engel-Bart and her daughters, 18-year-old Mika and 11-year-old Yuval, returned from captivity in the Gaza Strip in November 2023 after 52 days, but the family is still grappling with the loss of her husband, Ronen Engel. A photo of Mika in a pink tracksuit carrying one of the Cunio twins under the watch of armed terrorists became a symbol of their ordeal.
Ronen Engel remained a hostage in Gaza and was later confirmed killed, with his body still held there. In an interview with Ynet on Saturday, Engel-Bart described the ongoing trauma and her fear for the 20 hostages who remain alive. “The fear is uncontrollable, the fear that the living hostages are in immediate and constant danger,” she said. “It’s not just Ronen. There are people dear to us who are important to their families and we are waiting for all of them.”
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Karina Engel-Bart and her daughters, 18-year-old Mika and 11-year-old Yuval and their father Ronen
She expressed anguish over her children’s experience. “In what world does a 12-year-old girl wish to have her father returned for burial?” Engel-Bart said, referring to her youngest daughter, Yuval. “How can I explain to my children that, after nearly 700 days, we are still in the same situation?”
Engel-Bart said the family had prepared for Ronen Engel’s return, expecting all 50 hostages at the time to be freed. “We had already started planning the funeral, deciding who would give the eulogy and the song list,” she said.
She described her daughters as strong and resilient. “They see life as carrying a part of their father with them. For them, living is a way to honor Ronen. Yuval devours life in huge bites. She is happy, healthy and amazing,” Engel-Bart said. She also noted lingering effects of captivity, including aversions to certain foods and words. “Even the word ‘quiet’ carries a violent connotation for them,” she said.
Engel-Bart recalled other hostages held in Gaza, including Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, and said: “We don’t need to see the photos to be there. We are there. Seeing the pictures is hard, but it’s enough to close our eyes.” She also remembered David Cunio, who was with them in captivity, saying: “He is not just a hostage, he’s my friend and Ronen’s. Everyone should be home, the living first, but also the fallen. They deserve to be buried in Israel.”
Asked if they would return to their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, she said: “Not yet. Nir Oz is still a painful place. But it is the first place that must stand strong because that will be the victory, the hostages home and the soldiers out, and then rebuild the communities better and stronger.” She said she is working to restore normalcy for her children. “There is excitement about going back to school and being with friends. That’s part of being a normal child, and we are working very hard to ensure she can be a normal child, not just a child who was held captive.”
Ronen Engel disappeared on October 7, 2023, after leaving the family home armed. Karina Engel-Bart and her daughters were abducted separately, later reunited, while their eldest son, Tom, a soldier, was the only family member who remained safe. Their home in Nir Oz was destroyed. Four days after Engel-Bart and her daughters returned to Israel, the kibbutz announced Ronen Engel had been killed. He is remembered as a photographer, volunteer paramedic and motorcycle enthusiast.