For 3 hours today (Tuesday) the families of the observers who were killed in the Black Sabbath massacre met for the first time with Prime Minister Netanyahu in his office in Jerusalem – and when they left they gave a statement in which they announced: We demanded that he establish a state commission of inquiry, he did not confirm that he would do so. Upon leaving the office, the bereaved families made statements to the media, in which they continued to call for an investigation into the massacre – and to bring the guilty to justice.
Eyal Eshel, the father of the late Roni, who was declared missing for a month until it turned out that she fell in the Nahal Oz outpost, said: “First of all I will say that we welcome this meeting and that he devoted all his time, attention and listening to us. The meeting was long, almost 3 hours, and he sat and listened to us. I regret that he doesn’t really understand the details, and that’s why we were there – to tell him the story of Nahal Oz.” Eshel described two promises they received from the Prime Minister: the preservation of the Hmal that was burned by the terrorists and its transformation into a heritage site, as well as the establishment of a monument near Kibbutz Alumim, To be erected in memory of the female observers who fell at the outpost.
The father of the late Roni Eshel following the meeting of the parents of the observers with the Prime Minister | Photo: News 12 “We also came here demanding to bring our daughters’ friendships back home.” Gili Leibushor, mother of the late Yael | Photo: News 12
The families called on the Prime Minister to establish a state commission of inquiry into the site, in order to understand the failures that preceded the massacre and learn lessons. According to them, this demand was not met. Erez Price, the late Noa’s father, said: “In the end, even the Prime Minister understands that one of the most significant events happened in Nahal Oz on October 7th. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister did not confirm that a state commission of inquiry would be established – at least not at this time. Regarding the most important thing from our point of view – the establishment of an investigative committee – we did not receive any news. The Prime Minister is not ready to check this at this time.”
In the statement, the bereaved families also referred to the need for the release of the five female observers who are still in the captivity of Hamas – Liri Elbag, Naama Levy, Karina Agaiv, Agam Berger and Daniela Gilboa. Gili Leibushor, the late Yael’s mother, said regarding this: “We also came here demanding to bring our daughters’ friendships back home. There is no more room for more female observers to be killed. The role of female observers is to come and look at a screen and not look away. We will be punished for the negligence – anyone who was in the political and security ranks and looked away, we demand that they pay the price.”
The five observers who are still kidnapped in Gaza
Shahar Ashram, the sister of the late Shay, added: “I explained to the Prime Minister that as soon as the girls look away they are sent to prison, we demanded to know what the punishment is for those who looked away and at the cost of over 1400 murdered… We will not be silent and we will not let them put away the keys, They will resign and go home. They will pay the price at any cost – and we will stand by it.”
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