A report in Spain has claimed Lionel Messi helped to rescue an Argentine grandmother from Hamas abductors.

On the fateful morning of October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel, with approximately 250 Israeli citizens and soldiers taken as hostages back to Gaza.

And, according to Spanish outlet Marca, 90-year-old Ester Cunio was at the centre of a terrifying ordeal alongside eight members of her family as armed intruders stormed her home in the Israeli Kibbutz Nir Oz.

As gunmen demanding the whereabouts of her family confronted Cunio, the grandmother’s declaration she was Argentinian, along with the fact she loved football and Messi, resulted in a change in the assailant’s behaviour.

‘I told him that I speak in Argentine, in Spanish,’ she reportedly said. ‘I didn’t understand his language. The Arab language, and I speak poor Hebrew.

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A report has claimed Lionel Messi helped to rescue an Argentine grandmother from Hamas

90-year-old Ester Cunio reportedly saw her home stormed by Hamas intruders on October 7, before her declaration that she was Argentinian and loved Messi and football saved her

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‘I speak Argentinean Spanish, so he asks what Argentina is. Then I tell him, “do you watch football?” He said he liked it and I told him I am from Messi’s country.

‘He was surprised and told me he loves Messi. He put his arm on my shoulder, gave me his gun, he made me do the peace sign and they snapped the picture.’

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However, despite Cunio being spared, the horrifying ordeal saw her granchildren taken captive.

And, the 90-year-old pleaded for Messi’s help to ensure she gets her family members home.

She added: ‘If he [Lionel] knows that I mentioned him and was saved, now I would ask for my grandchildren who are locked up there.

Cunio pleaded for Messi’s help to ensure she gets her family, who were kidnapped, home

‘I would tell him to please pray to God because they are guys worth gold.’

Although the story has circulated in Spain, there has so far been no comment from Messi’s camp regarding the incident.