After a yr of desperately hoping for constructive information or an indication of life, the household of Israeli hostage Idan Shtivi has learnt he was killed on October 7, 2023, the primary day of Hamas’s assault.
“We thought he was alive for a yr,” Idan’s brother, Omri, advised AFP. “I simply want I might have hugged him one final time.”
After 12 months of daring to hope, Omri’s desires of a reunion had been shattered on Sunday when the Israeli military knowledgeable the household that 28-year-old Idan had been killed throughout his abduction on the Nova Competition which was focused by Hamas militants.
Regardless of not having his physique, the household has begun commemorations and is receiving a stream of tourists for the normal week of mourning, referred to as “shiva,” in accordance with Jewish customs.
A big white tent has been arrange exterior their sea-side house in Tel Aviv. Portraits of Idan have been hung up, accompanied by the phrases: “A soul of sunshine, love and selflessness.”
Omri advised AFP that authorities had introduced “medical” proof exhibiting that his brother was among the many greater than 370 pageant goers massacred on the Nova music occasion the place over 40 had been taken hostage.
“Idan was a pupil. He went to bounce and by no means got here again,” stated a visibly emotional Omri, 32, recounting his brother’s heroic actions throughout the assault, primarily based on eyewitness accounts.
– “Save me!”
For the previous yr, Omri, his father Eli and different members of the family have been within the public eye, campaigning for the discharge of the hostages held in Gaza.
In late August, alongside different households of hostages, they shouted into Gaza by loudspeakers close to the border.
“Idan! If you happen to can hear us, we’re right here. We’re not giving up,” his father cried that day earlier than working towards the Gaza fence with members of the family, shouting: “We’re coming,” solely to be stopped by troopers.
Within the household’s tent exterior their house, a authorities minister, a widely known TV presenter, military officers, and most notably, different hostage households gathered.
“That is one thing that has introduced us all collectively: we, the hostage households, have change into one large household,” stated Shelly Shem-Tov, who wore a T-shirt bearing the picture of her son Omer, additionally kidnapped from the Nova Competition.
“All year long, we have misplaced so many hostages whom we did not personally know, however we all know their households. They’ve change into like our family, and it is so painful,” she added.
The lives of those households modified ceaselessly on October 7, 2023 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,206 individuals, largely civilians, based on an AFP tally primarily based on official figures that embody hostages who died or had been killed in captivity in Gaza.
Of the 251 individuals kidnapped that day, 97 are nonetheless being held in Gaza, and 34 have been declared lifeless by the Israeli military.
In retaliation for the assault, Israel launched a navy offensive that has killed 42,010 individuals in Gaza, most of them civilians, based on figures from the Hamas-run territory’s well being ministry that the United Nations has described as credible.
“It is not proper that civilians who went to bounce at a pageant are nonetheless being held captive in Gaza,” added Shelly Shem-Tov. “It is not simply sooner or later after one other. It has been a complete yr that looks like an infinite day.
“We’re very, very drained,” she stated. “However we have now no selection. We should maintain shouting. I’m Omer’s voice, crying out: ‘Save me! Save me!'”
