Yagil Yaakov, the 12-year-old boy from Nir Oz who was kidnapped to Gaza and released as part of the hostage release deal in November, revealed today the harsh responses he receives on social media.
In a video posted after Tisha B'Av, Yaakov shared with his followers the shocking comments: "People write to me in the comments 'Why did you come back? I wish you had been killed there in Gaza with all the other children'."
Yaakov, who has become a social media star with over 50,000 followers on Instagram since his release, expressed deep frustration with the gap between the values of Tisha B'Av and the behavior of some of the public.
"The whole point of Tisha B'Av. People don't understand the meaning," he said in the video. "So what's the point of fasting on Tisha B'Av? The whole point is baseless hatred. The destruction of the Temple happened because of baseless hatred. October 7th happened because of baseless hatred. I really don't understand how people fast and the day after write me such a comment."
Yagil Yaakov was kidnapped along with his brother Or (16) on October 7, when terrorists broke into their home in Nir Oz. The brothers hid in the safe room and reported the infiltration of the terrorists to their mother.
Yagil was heard telling the kidnappers "I'm too small, don't take me". Separately, their father Yair Yaakov and his partner Merav Tal were also kidnapped.
A few days after the kidnapping, Islamic Jihad released a video of Yagil in Gaza, claiming they were ready to release him for humanitarian reasons due to his severe peanut allergy. Yagil was eventually released as part of the hostage release deal in November.
* Israel Hayom contributed to this article.