Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed on Tuesday that the terror group's leadership had lost contact on Monday with the terror cell members holding Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski in the Gaza Strip after Israeli forces besieged an area in Gaza where Braslavski was believed to be held.
“No one knows where Rom is—not the IDF, not PIJ. The only thing we were ever told is that he is being held alone," the Braslavski family said in a statement, adding that they were heartbroken and in pain over the news.
The family added that they had demanded a meeting of senior Israeli defense officials to update them on Rom's status, but only one member of the security council responded.
"We want to know where our son is. We want those responsible to sit with us and present the full picture—not fragments of information or partial truths."
Braslavski family heartbroken after PIJ statement
The family added that they completely disagreed with National Missions Minister Orit Strock's statements that the IDF should expand operations in Gaza even at the risk of the hostages' lives.
“There should be no ‘do not touch zones’ in Gaza. To win this war, we need to take control of these areas as well,” the Religious Zionist Party MK said, adding that the IDF must fight against Hamas and other Gaza terrorist groups in all parts of the enclave and defeat them.
"She should try putting herself in our position. If she could feel what I, Tami, feel as a mother, she wouldn’t be able to speak the way she did," the statement read.
"When people in government imagine themselves in our place, maybe decisions would be different. Let’s see if then they’d still prioritize land over hostages."
Braslavski was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023; he was a medic who reportedly stayed behind to help others at the festival. He was 19 at the time of his abduction, but is now 21.
His family has said that they have received very little information about his whereabouts during his time in captivity.
“For more than a year, we haven’t had a single shred of information about what’s happening to him,” his cousin, Adam Hajj, told KAN. Hajj added that the family had no idea “whether he’s eating or drinking, or if he’s even being warmed.”
Yair Golan denounces event as 'nightmare coming true'
The Democrats Party leader MK Yair Golan denounced the news on X/Twitter, stating that "As we warned, if we do not bring back the hostages, we risk losing them forever."
"For the people of Israel, this is a nightmare coming true; for the Israeli government, it is policy," he added.
"I embrace the Breslavsky family and pray that Rom returns home safely and soon. We must reach a deal now, we must bring back the hostages in one phase, now," he concluded.