For UN Secretary-General,
Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Dear Sir,
My name is Gila, I am an Israeli citizen, and I am a resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near the border with Gaza.
A week ago, we lost our elder
son, Daniel 4.5 yrs old, which was killed by a mortar shell, fired from
Gaza into Israel deliberately.
I address you after your announcement to
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to establish
an international investigation Committee
to investigate "Israel's crime" in the recent fighting in Gaza.
About us: Doron and I were
married five years ago and we have three amazing kids: Daniel 4.5 yrs,
Yoval 3.5 yrs and Uri 4 months old. We were a happy family. We lived in
Kibbutz Nahal Oz near Gaza, and found ourselves
constantly debating whether not to abandon Nahal Oz and move to another
location, quieter, safer, far from rocket fire from Gaza, and far away
from the alarms.
Then came the threat of
terrorist tunnels, which Hamas members dug from Gaza to Israel under our
home to hurt us. At night we heard noises and voices digging beneath
us. Thus, in the last six months our children slept
with the window closed and locked. We were afraid that they will be
kidnapped from us.
Can you imagine our life, Mr.
Secretary-General? How do you live in constant fear of mortar shell and
terrorists emerging from tunnels?
Then, last Friday, Daniel was
killed. All the precautions that we have taken have failed. Daniel, 4.5
yrs old, was killed in our House, while playing with Yoval in a tent
built indoors and not outside, because it's dangerous.
He was killed from a mortar shell that was shot by terrorists from
Gaza, he died in our hands. Daniel died in front of his little sister
and his best friend Yoval, 3.5 years old; he died in front of Uri, only
four months old and right before our eyes, his
mother and father.
We Failed. We couldn't protect
our beautiful and talented baby. Daniel was killed from a mortar shell
that was fired by Hamas members from an elementary school for boys in
Gaza City. It wasn't a stray shell. It wasn't
accidental death. From that school terrorists fired deliberately to the
kibbutz to murder civilians — children, women, old people. This time
they also achieved the goal. Daniel was killed almost immediately.
Daniel's father, Doron, covered him with a blanket
while crying bitterly and we escaped from home with two small children,
leaving our precious son behind, in order to protect them from bombings
who continued to explode around the house. Yoval, Daniel's sister saw
the terrifying sight and understood that something
terrible happened. It is unbearable to watch that little child staring
at the wall, in overwhelming silence with teardrops from her eyes.
This week, while the
"shiv'ah"(Jewish ritual of mourning) at Doron's parents home, we heard
of your decision to appoint an international investigation Committee to
investigate "Israel's crime" in the recent fighting in
Gaza. You informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu half an hour after
our Daniel was killed, perhaps while he was lying dead in our living
room, covered in a blanket.
The investigation Committee will examine the "crimes of Israel" during the fighting. The
investigation
Committee is not asked to investigate how terrorists shoot out of U.N buildings and schools.
The Committee is not asked to
investigate how
inside buildings of the United Nations and in hospitals in Gaza
terrorist infrastructure flourish and maintain over time, or how from
these places terrorist left for activity aimed against
innocent people.
It wouldn't investigate how
Hamas is abusing the Palestinian people, and how its members impose on
residents of Gaza, even on children, digging tunnels aimed only for
terrorism against Israel.
It wouldn't investigate how
after these excavations carried out under duress and in slave-like
conditions, the Hamas murdered the diggers, even the children, just to
be sure they won't be able to pass information to Israel.
Why are you silent? Does your silence indicate consent with the abuse of the Palestinian people and the Israeli people?
The answers to these questions will remain unknown.
And I want to ask you, Sir:
The terrorists units, fully
equipped and full of hatred that attacked us in our homes, are the same
units that kidnapped 43 UN observers in Syria; They are the same units
that decapitated innocent people in Syria and
Iraq; those unites crashed aircrafts into crowded buildings in 2001 in
New York; those unites threaten the essence of democratic life, and life
itself, in Europe, in the United States and anywhere on the plant.
Let me tell you some more about
the history of our lives here, on the border with Gaza. My husband's
parents, Doron, also live near the border fence and three and a half
years ago a Qassam rocket exploded and destroyed
their home.
Up until a few years ago they
had good relations with the residents of Gaza. They hired workers from
Gaza to work in their fields and Paulina, Daniel's grandmother, drove
them home – to Rafah, every evening after work.
They use to invite each other for weddings and other celebrations and
often traveled to Rafah or Gaza to enjoy life at cafes there.
All that ended when Hamas rise
to power and ordered the civilians who worked in Israel, to kill their
Israeli employers; otherwise, Hamas would hurt their families. Daniel's
grandparents used to tell us this, longing
and hoping that the good proximity will resume. They even found ways to
maintain contact with their friends from Gaza during the mortar shell.
Like the parents of Doron and their friends from Gaza, we want to live
in good proximity, in peace and security.
It is our hope that our neighbors, the people of Gaza will be able to
live peacefully in their homes and build and develop their beautiful
country. We believe that the vast majority of the people on this plant
do not want to see the sights of blood, tears
and fire of the radical Islam movement, but to live peacefully, enjoy
kid's laughter, wait for a better tomorrow.
We do not seek the people responsible for our Daniel's death.
We only wish your response and your voice against this crime and the crime Hamas committed against their own people.
Gila and Doron Tregerman
Parents of Daniel (RIP), Yoval and Ori
Nahal Oz, Israel
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