A woman in Israel has been reunited with her dog months after believing it was lost forever in the Hamas attack that began the ongoing war.
Rachel Dancyg never thought she would see her dog Billie again after it went missing during the October 7 Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel.
Her ex-husband and brother were abducted during the attack and later killed, and she feared the dog had also died.
However, on Tuesday night, the family received an unexpected call from an Israeli soldier that Billie had been found alive in Gaza. The news brought a rare moment of relief amid months of loss.
“It's a miracle,” Dancyg told The Associated Press on Wednesday, hours after being reunited with her now 3 1/2-year old Cavalier King Charles spaniel. “It doesn't make sense ... People didn't survive. How did she?”
The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and led to the kidnapping of over 250 others. Nearly 60 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza, with more than half presumed dead.
Nir Oz, the kibbutz where Rachel Dancyg lived, was one of the hardest hit. Nearly a quarter of its roughly 400 residents were either killed or taken hostage.
How did Billie go missing during the attack?
{{/usCountry}}Nir Oz, the kibbutz where Rachel Dancyg lived, was one of the hardest hit. Nearly a quarter of its roughly 400 residents were either killed or taken hostage.
How did Billie go missing during the attack?
{{/usCountry}}During the attack, Dancyg and her family hid in a safe room for eight hours. In the rush to escape, she was unable to find her dog, Billie. After the attack, the community searched everywhere, but Billie was nowhere to be found. Dancyg assumed the dog had died. The family later relocated to northern Israel.
The war that followed has devastated Gaza, with over 51,000 Palestinians killed, more than half of them women and children, according to local health officials.
Entire neighbourhoods have been flattened. Meanwhile, US-led efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and bring home the remaining hostages have stalled.
It is still unclear how Billie, the dog, survived or ended up in Gaza, but her return has brought a small sense of comfort to a grieving family.
Lee Maor, daughter of Ruth Dancyg from Nir Oz kibbutz, received a surprising call from a soldier recently returned from Gaza. “He said he had our dog,” Maor recalled. “I couldn't believe it. I asked for a photo. I was really confused.”
Hebrew helped lost dog reunite with family
The soldier told the family he had found Billie in Rafah, a southern city in Gaza around 15 kilometres from their kibbutz. She had approached his unit and refused to leave their side, possibly because she recognised them as Israelis. “It might have been because Billie heard them speaking Hebrew,” he told them.
Reserve soldier Aviad Shapira, speaking to Israeli television, said he found Billie among the rubble. “I said ‘shalom’ and she jumped on me,” he said. Sensing she didn’t belong in Gaza, Shapira took her to a vet, where a microchip revealed her family’s details.
Back at home, Billie sat curled up in Dancyg’s lap. “She seems happy to be home,” Dancyg said, though she added the dog appeared disoriented and had lost weight. “It will take time to see how the odyssey has affected her.”
Israeli media widely reported Billie's return, but the Nir Oz community urged people to remember the family’s suffering. In a Facebook post, the kibbutz called the reunion a “little light in a lot of sorrow.”
With AP inputs