The Manzuri family, as pictured on a GoFundMe page collecting support following the violence in Israel. One of their daughters, Roya, on the right, was confirmed dead; the other, Norelle, on the left, is missing. Courtesy of GoFundMe

By Beth Harpaz October 13, 2023

As news continued to trickle in this week regarding Americans caught up in the attacks in Israel, the fates of two missing sisters from Los Angeles diverged.

The Manzuri sisters, Norelle, 25, and Roya, 22, along with Norelle’s fiance, Amit Cohen, had been at the music festival attacked by Hamas gunmen. Initially all three were believed kidnapped.

But the bodies of Amit and Roya have now been identified, leaving Norelle alone among the missing.

“My babies, my babies!” their father Menashe wept in an interview on NBC. “We are in hell right now, that’s where we are.”

California kids

As children, the sisters lived in Los Angeles and attended the Jewish day school at Temple Israel of Hollywood. More recently they were living in Tel Aviv. Many of their childhood friends posted on social media in disbelief.

“It brings me tremendous pain to inform all of you about the passing of my elementary school friend, Roya Manzuri, who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists,” Eli Lesser posted on X (formerly Twitter). “May her memory forever be a blessing.”

A GoFundMe page described as raising money to support the family said, “We still have hope for Norelle’s safe return. We ask that you light a candle and say their names.”

The sisters are among 25 Americans murdered and 17 more missing in the wake of the Hamas attacks last weekend. Most of the victims are dual U.S.-Israeli citizens who were either born here but lived in Israel or had American-born parents.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said at a White House news conference this week that of the 17 unaccounted for, “we think the number that we know are — or we believe are — held hostage is very small — very small — like less than a handful.”

That suggests that more of the missing, like Roya, who had been presumed kidnapped, may turn up among the dead as more bodies are identified. Families of the missing have provided DNA samples to assist with identification.

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