A FOOTBALL-mad boy will spend his ninth birthday in the grips of Hamas terrorists after being kidnapped with his mum.
Little Ohad Munder, eight, was visiting his grandparents in the Israeli kibbutz Nir Oz when gunmen turned the area into a bloodbath on October 7.
Football-mad Ohad Munder was kidnapped alongside his mum on October 7
The youngster’s relative Merav Raviv has now revealed he will now spend his ninth birthday in the grips of Hamas terrorists
Hamas militants slaughtered more than 1,400 as they rampaged through several towns – and also took up to 200 hostages.
Ohad’s worried relative Merav Raviv the youngster, his mum Keren and grandparents Ruthi and Avraham were among those dragged across the border to Gaza.
She told today how at 6.30am on October 7, they hurried to their shelter at their home and put a film on for Ohad to distract him.
But Merav said lines of communication fell silent by 10am, and they have not been heard from since.
She said: “The Army told us all four of them were kidnapped and they are in the Gaza Strip.
“Ohad is a very talented boy, he’s a sporty boy, and he likes to play soccer and tennis.
“He’s in a special school for smart kids.”
Merav said Ohad is due to turn nine on Monday, and his mum had invited his friends to a party on Saturday.
“But unfortunately he won’t be able to celebrate his birthday,” she added.
Players at Ohad’s local club Hapoel Be’er Sheva FC have sent messages of support for the youngster.
Hamas gunmen caught Israel off guard as they stormed out of the Gaza Strip on motorbikes and even hand-gliders before laying waste to towns and a music festival as they began their horror massacre.
The attack, the worst breach in Israel’s defences since Arab armies waged war in 1973, followed two years of subterfuge by Hamas that involved keeping its military plans under wraps.
It’s feared hostages could be being held in Hamas’ mysterious 311-mile maze of tunnels riddled with deadly traps.
But a terror adviser has warned Israel will be forced to make heartbreaking calls to families of hostages if Hamas snubs a prisoner swap deal.
The terrorist group claims to have up to 250 captives in Gaza and issued a chilling threat to execute one civilian for each Israeli airstrike unleashed without warning.
A top Hamas leader this week hinted they may attempt to use those it abducted as bargaining chips to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’ diaspora office, said the group “has what it needs” to free 6,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails.
Hamas’ armed wing separately said the non-Israelis were “guests” who would be released “when circumstances allow”.
Since Hamas’ horror assault on October 7, Israel has discharged a barrage of airstrikes on Gaza – but vowed to act to free hostages while eliminating Hamas.
Friends and family of those kidnapped have been protesting and demanding a “prisoner deal now”.
Yigal Carmon, a counter-terrorism expert and former counter-terrorism advisor to Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, said a prisoner exchange is “absolutely necessary”.
He told The Sun: “Hamas wants all their Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
“We should say ‘yes’ and give them everybody, to the last prisoner.
“We do not need them. This is our bargaining: let the Palestinian prisoners go to Gaza, Jordan, to Egypt, to Turkey, to anywhere.
“We must not do negotiations on the back of our Israeli hostages, women, children. We must do the prisoner exchange.
“We want our loved ones back. Once we do that the families will understand that we are giving everything. And the people will know we are doing it, and the world will know that.”
But Mr Carmon warned Israeli authorities will have to make agonising calls to worried families if negotiations fail and a prisoner swap is not rubber-stamped.
He added: “And if they refuse the prisoners exchange, we may call the families and ask them: ‘What are we to do? They are not giving you back your loved ones’.
“And we erase Hamas from the face of the Earth. But not without an offer to exchange all prisoners for all prisoners.”
Merav today spoke about how sported and talented Ohad