A landlord in Israel has allegedly demanded the roommate of a young woman, who was kidnapped by Hamas operatives at a music festival, to pay her half of the rent, or he'll remove all her belongings from their apartment. According to the New York Post, 27-year-old Inbar Hyman was among the masses who attended the Supernova rave, where over 250 people were killed at the start of Hamas's attack in Israel. Many were abducted from the festival on Saturday, including the young student who is currently in the last year of her academic program.
Now, the landlord of her apartment in Israel, where she had been living with her boyfriend, has allegedly demanded the full rent for the unit. Citing local media outlet Walla News, the Post reported that the apartment's owner issued a warning that they may evict her and seek a new tenant, potentially displacing her belongings in the process.
The roommate, identified as Noam Allon, said that he received a message on Tuesday from his landlord demanding the rest of the rent to be paid. “But when he told him that the 27-year-old had been abducted, the landlord allegedly replied: “Look for replacements. You are not doing me a favour by living there”.
“Let it be clear to you: You have an obligation for the rent of 2,500 shekels [about $630 US]. You can talk to her parents about vacating the room,” the landlord added, according to the outlet.
Mr Allon's father posted a screenshot of the exchange with the landlord on social media. "I am 52-years-old," he said, as per Jerusalem Post. "In my life. I never thought I would encounter such opacity,” he added.
“I published it so that apartment owners would be careful of treating other people like this and think twice. The network will not forgive and no one does. I intentionally did not publish his name and phone number to give him time to apologize. I do not want to hear from him until Inbar is returned to Israel,” the father said.
Also Read | US State Department Warns Diplomats Not To Call For "De-Escalation" In Gaza: Report
Further, according to him, the landlord threatened to leave Ms Hyman's belongings in the street and find someone to take the room in her absence. “No one is able to bear this opacity and malice and insensitivity," he wrote in his post.
But, according to the New York Post, the landlord, identified as Aaron Reiss, denied the allegations and claimed that he made no such demands for the money. “I share in the sorrow of the dear parents — that their daughter will return safely and whole and as soon as possible,” he said.
“In essence, there is a whirlwind of shaming here. My tenant and the abducted woman do not owe me a shekel. How did it come to this whole situation? I don't know. I didn't ask for money — not from her family and certainly not from her,” Mr Reiss added.
Meanwhile, according to reports, Ms Hyman and her two friends were 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 abduction online. The father said his son is having a hard time dealing with what's happened.
Notably, since Saturday, the attack has killed more than 1,300 people in Israel while the Israeli counter-airstrikes have killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza. Israel has claimed roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel.
