Israeli actor Rona-Lee Shimon, who starred in the popular web series Fauda, has put up an Instagram reel that captures the horror Israelis faced last Saturday when Hamas operatives launched an unprecedented attack on its cities. The actor plays Nurit, a woman member of Israel's counter-terrorism unit, in Fauda.
About 1,300 Israelis were killed and over 150 taken hostages by Hamas operatives. The terror attack has triggered a brutal counterstrike by Israel on the Gaza Strip.
Ms Shimon's Insta post is a time-lapse video of a phone screen that starts with "POV: you are a mother in south Israel".
The phone's display shows routine messages before emergency alerts of Hamas' rocket strike start coming in. Sirens are heard in the background, and the phone's screen shows calls of loved ones coming in. The calls are not answered. With each passing moment, alarming messages make it to the phone screen as government authorities ask citizens to move to the shelters and people try to reach their loved ones. Through this one phone screen, the reel communicates what thousands went through that Saturday morning. The messages from family members, notified on the phone's display, capture hope turning to despair as people fail to contact their loved ones.
At one point, the phone runs out of charge, and the screen goes dark. The reel ends with an appeal to stand by Israel.
"No words, we will prevail," the actor said in the post.
The post drew nearly 400 responses, with many expressing solidarity with Israel and others supporting the Palestinian cause.
Earlier, Ms Shimon had thanked people around the world for backing Israel. In a video message posted on Fauda's official Twitter page, she had said, "I want to say thank you to all of the people around the world who are supporting Israel at this time. Thank you for your voices, thanks for your support this is the best thing to do for us. I have been getting messages from all around the world to support you so much. October 7th will go down in history as one of the most horrific massacres ever done in the history of the world. Thank you for not being silent."
