After their loved ones disappeared during the attack on southern communities, the families of the missing, most of whom were apparently abducted to Gaza, are breaking their silence and issuing a joint statement to the media on Sunday. During the declaration, one of the speakers defined the purpose of connecting the families: "To help return the captives and missing persons, and not to deal alone with the difficulties that will come."
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"We don't know anything": the joint statement of the families of the missing to the media
During the statement, Uri David, the father of the missing women, Hudia and Tair recounted the chilling moments when he lost contact with his daughters after they came into contact with Hamas terrorists who breached the border fence. "I ask the whole world to see what I'm going through, we must bring the children home - and as soon as possible. We need someone to give us answers. Maybe not all of them, but at least some. 48 hours and we didn't get a comma of information from the authorities. My two daughters are there, I close my eyes and don't know where they are. I'm afraid of what they're doing there in Gaza," he said, his voice broken with tears and tears.
Merav Lashen Gonna, mother of missing woman Romi, told of her daughter who has been missing since the attack. "She is the light in the house, the most beautiful girl in the world. Yesterday morning we went into a nightmare. It started with a call from Rumi when she told us Katyusha rockets were being fired at them. She's used to it, but this time it went further. We were on the phone with her until at ten o'clock I talked to her, I was on the line with her with a lovely guy who tried to rescue them. At 10:15, she told me that they had been shot, that they were all wounded, that she was bleeding and that she was afraid she was going to die. This nightmare of a parent hearing his child begging for help on the phone. I tried to help her for an hour, so we heard the shots very close to them. We heard a conversation in Arabic, Rumi no longer spoke to us, someone hung up her phone, and since then we have no idea what happened to her and to those who were on the phone with her.
"We ask for very simple things – answers. There is not a single representative talking to us who can be contacted," she said. "We expect them to find a way to contact us, appoint a representative to be in touch with us and get updates. The state needs to contact powerful leaders in the region to influence what happens to all of us – this is a war crime. They need to be pressured to change the situation."
Batsheva Iluz, Elia's mother: "Come here today and I keep saying sorry to Elia, I couldn't help you more. Maybe when he sent me a location I should have traveled. Sorry you screamed and I didn't know what to do. I demand that the government not neglect its citizens. As the hours go by, I'm less optimistic. They demand to meet with Gal Hirsch today. Want answers today. Do not group information. I came here to send a message - there's no way everyone isn't being brought home! There is no such situation," she said through heavy tears.
Contact with their relatives was cut off during Saturday's surprise Hamas attack, in which an estimated several dozen officers, soldiers, women, men, children and elderly people were captured. Over the past 24 hours, there have been complaints about the authorities' handling of the missing persons issue, with some even accusing the authorities of not responding to the families of the missing.
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