Autistic Harry Potter fan Noya Dan, 12, burned by Hamas savages in massacre after child texted ‘Mummy, I’m scared’
THE charred remains of an autistic 12-year-old Harry Potter fan taken from her home by Hamas savages were found yesterday.
Noya Dan’s body, as well as that of her 80-year-old gran Carmela, were discovered burned near the Israel-Gaza border fence by search and rescue teams.
But it was unclear if Noya and Carmela had died from wounds suffered when they were hauled away from their blazing home in Nir Oz, near the Gaza border, or if the pair had been executed.
Noya had not been heard from since calling her mum Galit, 53, as Hamas terrorists rampaged to say: “Mummy, I’m scared. There are people in the house. Help me.”
Galit had been praying for a miracle ever since, hoping the vulnerable pair had been taken hostage and would survive their ordeal.
But the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs said yesterday: “We are devastated to announce that Noya and her grandmother Carmela’s bodies were discovered yesterday.
“Thank you to all of you who shared her story to help us bring her home. Our hearts are broken.”
Earlier this week, Harry Potter author JK Rowling had shared a picture of Noya wearing the wizard’s costume and holding a wand and a Hebrew copy of one of her books.
She wrote: “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.”
The State of Israel had also shared pictures of Noya — a bright, funny and high-functioning autistic schoolgirl — on social media site X/Twitter, pleading “bring her home”.
The post read: “This beautiful 12-year-old girl with autism was kidnapped from her home by Hamas terrorists and was taken to Gaza.
“Noya is sensitive, kind, funny and a massive Harry Potter fan.”
Farmer’s wife Galit had waved Noya off for a sleepover with Carmela — who had dementia and heart problems — hours before terror group Hamas attacked earlier this month.
Both families took refuge in fortified panic rooms five miles apart at villages half a mile from the Gaza border — too terrified to speak as shootings and explosions erupted around them.
Then after hours of texting in darkness at the centre of firefights, Noya sobbed her whispered last message.
Nothing had been heard of the happy-go-lucky youngster or her gran until yesterday — when they were confirmed to be among 25 slain innocents identified from Nir Oz.
Galit had been rescued after 22 hours in a panic room in her home in nearby kibbutz Kissufim.
She was evacuated to a Dead Sea resort hotel where she told The Sun last week: “The pain is indescribable. My little girl went for a sleepover with her granny and was messaging us as these animals came for them.
“We’ve heard nothing from them since and their bodies have not been found among the dead so we believe they have been taken.
“I am living every parent’s nightmare. Every parent in the world will feel our pain.”
She said her bright daughter was an autistic child who would have struggled to cope with her kidnap ordeal.
The little girl dragged from her home amid explosions and gunfire was upset by noise and had been brought home early from a noisy pop concert recently when she became distressed.
Noya’s stepfather Inon Ilan, 55, said after she disappeared: “Noya is a very sweet, very funny, very clever little girl — but she is also extremely sensitive because of her autism.
“It was awful hearing her last voice message begging for help when we were so powerless and surrounded by men trying to kill us.
“What do they hope to achieve by doing this to innocent, helpless people?”
The Sun was escorted to Nir Oz by Israeli troops yesterday as news broke that Noya and her gran were among the dead.
Kibbutz community leader Ron Bahat, 57, pointed out the burned-out shell of the house from where the tragic pair were smoked out before being dragged to their doom.
Mr Bahat said: “A quarter of the people who live in our wonderful little kibbutz have been killed or taken hostage — one in four.
“We had hoped Carmela Dan and her granddaughter were among those still alive, but we have discovered they did not make it. The people who did this were not people — they were worse than IS.”
The Israel Defence Forces, preparing for a huge ground offensive, said yesterday that 203 people are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.