Tore a garment for a sign of grief: The families of the abductees held a statement to the media this evening (Saturday) in the square of the abductees in light of the announcement of the murder of Elad Katzir, whose body was returned to Israel. “133 abductees have been held captive by Hamas for six months. Unfortunately, the number of abductees decreased today for the wrong reasons. The people of Israel will not be able to begin its rehabilitation until all the abductees return home – the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial.”
In Kibbutz Nir Oz, a rally was held to mark the half-year anniversary of the seventh of October, where survivors of the captivity, Yigil Ya’akov and Ada Sagi, also spoke.
Statement of the families of the abductees, photo: Koko
Esther Buchstab, the mother of the abducted Yagav Buchstab, spoke about the uncertainty in which the families have been living since that Shabbat: “For half a year we have been in a nightmare that started on that cursed Shabbat at 6:29 a.m., a continuous nightmare that only gets worse from moment to moment. We are worried here, we are in pain , are fighting, but the abducted members of our families are in Hamas hell, in inhumane conditions. What else is needed to understand that we can no longer wait until the negotiations continue? The hard news about Elad proved once again that there is not even one more day to wait.”
The families of the abductees in the square of the abductees (archive), photo: Gideon Markowitz
Nissan Calderon, the brother of the kidnapped Ofer Calderon: “183 days ago, my brother, Ofer, was kidnapped from his home along with two of his children – Sahar and Erez. 131 days ago Sahar and Erez returned from hell and we welcome and cherish their return, but they have a long and difficult road of rehabilitation ahead of them. They will not be able to recover without their father, Ofer, being here. Spare the rest of the families the bitter message that the Katzir family received and give us one happy message that we have been looking forward to for six months.”
Elad Katzir, photo: courtesy of the family
Noam Perry, daughter of the abductee Haim Perry: “In mid-December we received a last sign of life from my father and we were so happy to see that he is alive and holding on. The terrible news about Elad’s murder shakes us and should shake us all, because they show us all again, that they are there every day in danger of death. Elad bravely survived for more than 100 days! Elad could have been brought home alive! Elad had to be brought home alive. Mr. Prime Minister, the members of the cabinet sent the head of the Mossad and the head of the Shin Bet to Cairo with one instruction: do not return without a deal!”
“It was hope that saved me – which of them still has?”
At a rally of Nir Oz evacuees in Kiryat Gat, to mark the half-year anniversary of the seventh of October, Adina Moshe and Gil Yaakov, who were released from captivity in the kidnapping deal, spoke. “When they asked me to speak today, I said no. Since we were informed that my father was murdered, I felt that I had nothing more to say,” said Yigil at the rally. “But after hearing about Elad, I realized I had to speak. That we all deserve a different end. Enough! It’s too much time! There’s no more time!
Photo: Nir Oz spokesmen
“When I was there I believed, the whole time I believed that they would come to save me. They believe too” is how Yagil described the feelings of captivity. “Hope was the one that saved me, and after six months – which of them still has hope? Which of us? We want them alive. Every day that passes, we are informed of another person who will not return alive, and every day I believe less and less.”
Ada Sagi described the shattered hope. “Elad Katzir, with whom we lived together for 20 days in the hiding apartment captured by the Islamic Jihad, was horrifically murdered by his captors. Now I understand even more the magnitude of the miracle that happened to me and to those who returned in the first seven beats. The day I returned to Israel I searched for my country. It’s been six months to this day After the nightmare of Shiva in October – I can’t find her. That day I was just looking for the army, and he wasn’t there. I was abandoned, Nir Oz was abandoned, and the country was abandoned.”
Photo: Nir Oz spokesmen
In her words she criticized the leadership. “Where is the government? The one that abandoned us that Shabbat? It continues to abandon 134 abductees in the inferno of Hamas. The abductees have no respite, no freedom holiday, and certainly not Independence Day. Until everyone returns, neither do we. I am here to raise the cry of those whose voices cannot be heard. My friends from Kibbutz Nir Oz, my students from Manofi al-Bashur, my neighbors from the Otaf settlements, the celebrants of the nature parties, and the soldiers.”
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