Families of Captives Fear 3 Men Will Be Forgotten

Beni Regev, left, and his brother Ofer look at a photo of their brother Eldad, an army reserve soldier taken captive by Hezbollah guerrillas a week ago. (By Samuel Sockol -- The Washington Post)

Like other family members of the three missing men, they said that lack of information is the hardest part.

"It has been a week and we still don't know anything," Beni Regev said. "We still don't even know if they are alive. We are calling on people's humanity to at least give us a sign -- a photo, a phone call, something -- that shows us that Eldad is alive. I think that Hezbollah is playing the worst kind of game with us."

In the apartment, a large supply of bottled water and soda is stacked in one corner, and the television in the living room is permanently tuned to a 24-hour news channel.

His brothers are religious Jews, unlike Eldad, whom they described as more interested in rock music than synagogue. They said they begin each day with the first of three prayer sessions, and have added a special plea to the normal liturgy for their brother to return "safe and soon."

"Everyone is trying to support them, but we all know there is nothing we can really do," said Chaim Tzouri, the mayor of Kiryat Motzkin. "No one knows if Eldad is alive. So what can you tell them that will help?"

A banner above the vestibule of their building reads: "Eldad, we are waiting for you to come home." On the street outside, community members stop by regularly to add their prayers. A military liaison is on hand round-the-clock. And a parade of politicians and commanders come through to offer condolences and pledge their support. Late Tuesday morning, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the Israeli military chief of staff, spent 20 minutes with the family.

"He didn't really have anything to tell us," said Beni Regev. "They don't know where he is or how he is."

As he spoke, an air raid siren sounded and the family moved briskly to the stairwell at the center of their building. While no rockets have fallen in their town, the warnings come several times a day, further fraying the family's nerves.

About 15 miles north, along Israel's Mediterranean coast, the family of Ehud Goldwasser had convened in Nahariya, after arriving from across the globe. Ehud's youngest brother was traveling in rural India when he heard, and it took him four days to get home. Shlomo, a retired commercial ship captain, was in South Africa when he saw on CNN that Israeli soldiers had been kidnapped. "When I tried to call his phone and couldn't get through, I just knew," he said.

"I called a rabbi and a doctor and went to tell his mother," Shlomo said. "She reacted like you would expect a mother would. I don't want to say more."

The families said they are in close contact, trading tips on coping and passing on what few scraps of information they can glean. All three homes lie about a half-hour's drive from one another in Israel's north.

"Each family offers the others strength and support," said Yayr Goldwasser, 26, a brother of Ehud. "No one wants to go through this alone."

Special correspondent Samuel Sockol contributed to this report.