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She wanted to party, dance and have fun. Now the young Danielle Waldman (†24) is dead, she was shot by Hamas fighters on October 7 during the Supernova festival. Waldman was in the middle of the festival grounds when the militias attacked hundreds of civilians. She and her friends ran for their lives, but could not escape.
Waldman is the daughter of tech billionaire Eyal Waldman, founder of Israeli chipmaker Mellanox Technologies. In an interview with the BBC he now talks about his tragic loss.
“Daniëlle loved life”
“She was a great girl,” the grieving father said. “She loved to dance. She loved animals. She loved people and had many friends. Danielle enjoyed snowboarding, scuba diving and riding motorcycles with her boyfriend. She never hurt anyone.” Waldman has tears in his eyes as he describes his daughter. “They just killed her.”
There is a recording of Waldman’s final moments – a short video recorded on a cell phone: the 24-year-old sitting in the backseat of a car with two friends. Several voices can be heard. The friends are being hunted. “Do you want me to drive really fast?” says Danielle’s friend. He presses the gas. A few minutes later, armed Hamas men riddled the car with bullets. Danielle, her friend Noam and their friends in the backseat were killed instantly.
Father wants peace
When the tech giant learned that Danielle was missing, it immediately traveled back from Indonesia and requested permission to land in Israel, even though its airspace was already closed. Three hours later, he searched for his daughter by tracking her Apple Watch. “We were about to do battle with seven terrorists, creatures – call them whatever you want,” he says. ‘They had killed three or four soldiers. Then we drove south in a jeep with three police officers.”
The father found only the empty, blood-stained car. He had long hoped that his daughter was ‘just’ being held hostage. Her body was found two days later. Danielle will now be buried next to her boyfriend. The two would be married next year.
Although Palestinian Hamas fighters killed his daughter, Waldman still believes in a peaceful two-state solution. “We have to stop killing each other,” he says. Waldman is actively working towards a humanitarian solution. “I donated $360,000 to a hospital in Gaza.” He hopes that the two peoples can live side by side in three to four years. (An)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
