Dog reunites with Israeli family after disappearing for 18 months in Gaza

BINYAMINA, Israel — Rachel Dancyg never thought she would see her dog again after it disappeared in the Hamas-led terrorist attack that sparked the ongoing war with Israel.

Her ex-husband and brother were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel and killed. She thought her beloved pet had suffered the same fate. So when a soldier called the family on Tuesday night, telling them that Billie had been found alive in Gaza, it was hard to believe.

“It’s a miracle,” Dancyg told The Associated Press on Wednesday, hours after being reunited with her now 3½-year old Cavalier King Charles spaniel. “It doesn’t make sense … People didn’t survive. How did she?”

The reunion brought a rare touch of joy in Israel after 18 months of devastating war.

The Oct. 7, 2023, a Hamas-led terrorist attack killed some 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 others being kidnapped. Nearly 60 hostages remain in Gaza, more than half of whom are believed to be dead.

An Israeli offensive launched after the attack has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. U.S.-led efforts to broker a ceasefire and bring home remaining hostages appear to be at a standstill.

Troops to remain in Gaza

Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday that troops will remain in security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely.

Israeli forces have taken over more than half of Gaza in a renewed campaign to pressure Hamas terrorists to release hostages after Israel ended their ceasefire last month. Israel has also refused to withdraw from some areas in Lebanon following a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist group last year, and it seized a buffer zone in southern Syria after rebels overthrew Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.

“Unlike in the past, the (Israeli military) is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. The military “will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and (Israeli) communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza — as in Lebanon and Syria.”

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said that Israel’s continued presence in some areas in Lebanon was “hindering” the Lebanese army’s full deployment as required by the ceasefire negotiated with Israel.

Two Israeli drones strikes on Wednesday in southern Lebanon killed two people, the health ministry said.

Hamas has said it will not release dozens of remaining hostages without a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski. It was the first sign of life of him, though recently released hostages had said they had seen him in captivity. In the video, which was filmed under duress, Braslavski says he was held in terrible conditions and pleads with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Community hit hard

Nir Oz was one of the hardest hit communities with nearly a quarter of the approximately 400 residents killed or captured in the 2023 attack. Some families have said they saw Hamas terrorists killing or kidnapping animals.

It’s unclear how Billie ended up in Gaza. When Hamas entered Dancyg’s home, she hid in the safe room with her family for eight hours, holding the door shut. But she fled so quickly there was no time to find the dog. For months, the community looked everywhere for Billie, but there was no trace of her.

The family later moved to northern Israel.

Then, on Tuesday night, Dancyg’s daughter received a phone call from a soldier who had just returned from Gaza. He said he had their dog.

“I couldn’t believe it. I asked for a photo. I was really confused,” said her daughter, Lee Maor.

The soldier said he found Billie in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah — about 9 miles from the Kibbutz — days earlier, and she immediately gravitated toward his troops, not leaving their side. It might have been because Billie heard them speaking Hebrew, he told them.

Speaking to Israeli television, reserve soldier Aviad Shapira said he found Billie among the rubble and called out to her. “I said ‘shalom’ and she jumped on me,” he said.

He had a feeling that she didn’t belong in Gaza and that there was a story behind her, Shapira said. He brought the dog to a veterinarian and found the family’s contact information on a chip inside the animal.

Stroking Billie on her lap, Dancyg says it will take time to see how the odyssey has affected her. Billie appears happy to be home, but she seems disoriented and has lost weight, Dancyg said.

While Israeli media happily reported Billie’s return, the Nir Oz community reminded people not to forget what the family went through. In a Facebook post, the kibbutz called the reunion a “little light in a lot of sorrow.”

The body of Dancyg’s ex-husband, Alex, 76, was recovered by the army and returned in August. The body of her brother Itzhak Elgarat, 68, was returned earlier this year as part of a ceasefire.