Two years ago when Hamas attacked Israel and kidnapped more than 200 hostages, one of the first people HPR connected with was Matti Gorodenchik.
He was working as a teacher and coach at Kaimuki High School. He remembered when his sister called him during the middle of a football game at Pearl City High School. She was terrified because Hamas was in the home she was hiding in, and she called her brother to say goodbye.
He has since moved to Boston, but the ache over this bloody conflict remains. HPR talked to him on Thursday morning. Gorodenchik shared that an uncle of a childhood friend was one of the hostages killed, whose body has yet to be returned home. Under the agreement reached by Israel and Hamas, roughly 20 surviving hostages and the bodies of two dozen others could be released as soon as next week.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 9, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
