12-Year-Old Autistic Israeli Girl Who Went Viral For 'Harry Potter' Fan Photo Killed in Gaza
Noya Dan went missing after the October 7 attacks in Israel.
Oct. 19 2023, Published 7:00 p.m. ET
An Israeli girl, whose Harry Potter-inspired photo went viral after she was kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on October 7, was killed, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Israeli Defense Forces discovered the remains of Noya Dan, 12, and her grandmother, Carmela Dan, in Gaza on Wednesday.
Noya Dan, 12, and grandmother Carmela Dan, 80, were presumed kidnapped by Hamas militants.
Camerla's niece, Abbey Onn, confirmed the discovery of Noya and Carmela to NBC News' Lester Holt.
"There was an operation by the Israeli army some days ago at this point to retrieve bodies, and we believe that it took them time to run what we know to be three DNA tests and to identify that it was both of them," Onn shared with Holt.
A day before Onn and her family were informed of Carmela and Noya's deaths, they celebrated what would have been the grandmother's 80th birthday on Tuesday.
Israeli Defense Forces discovered Noya and Carmela's remains in Gaza.
Noya and her grandmother were among the innocent civilians killed during the October 7 attack. At the time, the young Harry Potter fan went to her grandmother's house in Kibbutz Nir Oz for a sleepover.
When Carmela and her granddaughter were discovered missing from the home following the attack, their family assumed they had been kidnapped and taken to Gaza, where over 150 other hostages were believed to be held by the Hamas.
Onn noted that while the location of their remains suggested that was what happened, their kidnapping has not been verified.
The State of Israel official account asked author J.K. Rowling to share Noya's story.
Noya's photo touched hearts around the world after it was shared by the State of Israel's official social media account. In the photo, Noya dons the traditional Hogwarts student uniform, complete with a Gryffindor tie, wand and a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince clutched in her arms.
"This beautiful 12 year old girl with autism was kidnapped from her home by Hamas terrorists and was taken to Gaza," the State of Israel account captioned the post on X, formerly Twitter. "Noya, is sensitive, kind, funny and a massive Harry Potter fan."
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Aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.
The official account tagged author J.K. Rowling in the post and asked, "@jk_rowling can you help us get her story out?"
Rowling obliged and shared the post with her followers, which was viewed over 26 million times.
"Kidnapping children is despicable and wholly unjustifiable. For obvious reasons, this picture has hit home with me. May Noya and all hostages taken by Hamas be returned soon, safely, to their families," Rowling captioned the post.
When a follower replied to Rowling's October 16 post with the devastating news of Noya and her grandmother's deaths, Rowling commented, "I have no words."
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Before Noya and her grandmother were discovered missing, the tween left her mother, Galit, a final voicemail.
"All the window’s in grandma’s house are broken, at the entrance, because there was another boom," Noya said in the message before she could be heard moaning "mommy" in Hebrew.
Galit said the final text she received from her daughter was around 12:30 PM on October 7 and did not learn of the kidnappings in the Kibbutz until 4 AM the next day.
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