Merav Daniel, the mother of Oz Daniel, whose body is being held in Gaza, said in a Thursday interview with Walla: “Every bombing increases the chance that the fallen will disappear.” Daniel confessed that she doesn't know where her son's body is being kept, and that the army "can’t say either."
“Oz was kidnapped while defending the country, and now the country is abandoning him. I’m horrified by what’s happening,” Merav stated.
The funeral of Israeli soldier Oz Daniel was held at the military cemetery in Kfar Saba in February 2024, following his death, which the Israeli chief rabbi reportedly declared based on findings and intelligence information.
"We do have a grave, because they [the IDF] eventually found his blood-soaked belongings – a stretcher and a vest from one of his crew members with blood stains – and according to Jewish law, burial was necessary and allowed. We are people of faith, so we agreed to bury him and sit shiva. But for me, Oz isn’t truly in that grave, so I call it a memorial stone. Until he is properly buried, for me, the circle is not closed," the mother of Oz Daniel revealed.
“We must stop, end the fighting, return the hostages – and we can always go back to fighting afterward. I don’t want any soldier to die for this, certainly not for bodies. Because this really is hell on earth,” Merav added.
'My son is being abandoned by the state'
Merav Daniel emphasised she is happy for the return of hostages, but she is "always equally anxious." Daniel also referred to Hadar Goldin's kidnapping: "I’m afraid to end up like them [Goldin family] – nearly 11 years without Hadar Goldin’s body returned for burial."
She also reflected upon Edan Alexander’s release: "I realized that my son, born in this country, with an Israeli passport and citizenship, who served the country and was kidnapped while defending it, is also being abandoned by the state.”