Doron Katz-Asher, an Israeli woman who was released in November 2023 from Gaza along with her two daughters, raised more than $600,000 in a single day after launching a fundraiser campaign to help her rebuild her life.
The 36-year-old mother announced the fundraiser on Wednesday in an Instagram post.
“Today, I’m putting shame aside. I refuse to let my captivity define me. I choose to heal and to rebuild. But now, at my most vulnerable point, I realize I can’t do this alone,” Katz-Asher wrote in a plea for financial help.
“This will give me a chance to rebuild, to breathe again, and to believe that there can be light even after the worst pain,” she said.
“I was there—in captivity, in the heart of hell. I was kidnapped along with my two little daughters. We were injured and held hostage for weeks, far from home and everything we knew. I didn’t know if we would survive,” Katz-Asher related.
“Eventually, I was freed from the darkness I will never forget. I returned to my family, but my family was no longer whole. My beloved mother and brave brother were murdered [on Oct. 7, 2023],” the post read.
The freed abductee moreover shared about the painful separation from her husband, and having to give birth to a third girl alone.
Katz-Asher said that asking for help is “not who I am. But if I don’t do this for myself and my daughters, I may lose the chance for real healing. So, I’m reaching out with all my heart: Please help. My daughters, including sweet little Yam, deserve a strong, present mother. I can’t do it alone, and I need your support to get there.”
By noon on Friday, the campaign raised more than 2.6 million shekels ($720,000), out of her target of 2.8 million shekels ($780,000).
On Oct. 7, 2023, 251 people were kidnapped from Israel’s western Negev in the wake of the mass-scale terrorist attack led by Hamas, killing 1,200 more civilians and security forces.
Asher-Katz was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz with her daughters, aged 4 and 6, while visiting her mother.
Her mother, Efrat Katz, and brother Ravid were murdered by Gazan terrorists.
Her mother’s partner, Gadi Moses, aged 80, was kidnapped as well and was released alive in the second ceasefire agreement after 482 days on Jan. 30.