Many were kidnapped from the Israeli festival on Saturday.
A landlord in Israel has reportedly demanded the roommate of a young woman kidnapped by Hamas operatives at a music festival to pay her half the rent or he would remove all her belongings from their apartment. According to the New York Post27-year-old Inbar Hyman was among the crowds who attended the Supernova rave where more than 250 people were killed at the start of Hamas’ attack in Israel. Many were abducted from the festival on Saturday, including the young student who is currently in the final year of her academic studies.
Now the landlord of her apartment in Israel, where she lived with her boyfriend, has reportedly demanded full rent for the unit. Citing local media Walla newsthe After reported that the apartment owner had given a warning that they might evict her and find a new tenant, possibly moving her belongings.
The roommate, identified as Noam Allon, said he received a message from his landlord on Tuesday demanding the remainder of the rent be paid. “But when he told him the 27-year-old had been kidnapped, the landlord allegedly replied: “Find replacements. You are not doing me any favors by living there.”
“Let us be clear: you have a rental obligation of 2,500 shekels [about $630 US]. You can talk to her parents about leaving the room,” the landlord said.
Mr Allon’s father posted a screenshot of the exchange with the landlord on social media. “I’m 52 years old,” he said Jerusalem Post. “In my life. I never thought I would encounter such opacity,” he added.
“I published it so that apartment owners would beware of treating other people like that and would think twice about it. The network won’t forgive and no one does. I deliberately did not publish his name and phone number to give him time to apologize. I don’t want to hear from him until Inbar is returned to Israel,” the father said.
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He also said the landlord threatened to leave Ms Hyman’s belongings on the street and find someone to take over the room in her absence. “No one can tolerate this opacity, malice and insensitivity,” he wrote in his post.
But according to the New York Postthe landlord, identified as Aaron Reiss, denied the allegations, claiming he made no such demands for the money. “I share in the sorrow of the dear parents – that their daughter will return safe and sound as soon as possible,” he said.
“Essentially, this is a whirlwind of shame. My tenant and the kidnapped woman don’t owe me a shekel. How did this whole situation come about? Don’t know. I did not ask for money – not from her family and certainly not from her,” Mr Reiss added.
Meanwhile, Ms Hyman and her two friends were reportedly chased by Hamas gunmen for three hours before being kidnapped. The woman’s family learned she had been kidnapped after seeing a video of the kidnapping online. The father said his son is having a hard time processing what happened.
Strikingly, more than 1,300 people have been killed in Israel since Saturday’s attack, while more than 1,530 people have been killed in Israeli counter-air strikes in Gaza. Israel claims about 1,500 Hamas militants have been killed in Israel.
