"You took my daughter, I want you to return her voice to me. you're concealing the recordings."
The lookout Shirel Mor, may her memory be a blessing, fell on October 7th in Nahal Oz. Her mother, Edna, demands to receive the recordings from her last shift in the intelligence unit - but is currently denied: "The mental state is terrible. Since October 7th, I'm not functioning. When I visit the cemetery, I ask my husband to set up a bed for me; I want to live there."
On October 7th, Sergeant Shirel Mor, aged 19, a field intelligence lookout soldier in Nahal Oz, fell in battle. Her mother, Edna, demands from the army the recordings from Shirel's last shift in the Intelligence Unit - but for now, her request has been denied. Meanwhile, families of the observation soldiers demand the immediate establishment of a state inquiry committee.
"We represent our daughters who warned, waited for rescue. No one came," said Edna this morning. "We're not asking, we're demanding. In less than nine months, a state inquiry committee must be established: a transparent committee that will reveal the truth to us and to all the people of Israel. It wasn't a tsunami, not a natural disaster, not a tornado."
She continued "It was at the hands of those who lead the army, from the Gaza Brigade Commander to the Chief of Staff. Why are they still in office? Everything that's happening now is because those who lost on October 7th cannot win in anything. That's why the war looks like this in the north and south, that's why there are still missing persons, that's why they released the hospital administrator. Now they're shifting blame from one to another. There's no accountability, no one knows who gave the order. I still feel like I'm living on October 7th."
Shirel was on duty from midnight until four in the morning. From four until eight, she was on standby. I turned to the Gaza Brigade, the ones responsible for the recordings. For two months I've been asking for my daughter's shift recordings. No parents of the girls who were on duty from midnight to four received recordings. You took my daughter; I want you to return her voice.
For two months, they've been saying, 'It's being dealt with, there's a queue.' Why should I wait in line? I'm sure they're concealing it and demand they stop sweeping it under the rug," they told me: 'You know, it was quiet.' I know it started early, between midnight and two in the morning. The shooting started at four and a half before the morning, I saw documentation on YouTube. I demand that they give me the recordings. It's not human. Give me my daughter's voice."
In an interview by mako the mother was asked; how do you feel these days?
She responded, "when I go to visit my daughter in the cemetery, I tell my husband every time: 'Put a bed here for me, I want to stay here, live here, by my daughter.' It's hard for me to cook. I don't cook foods my daughter loved. Since October 7th, I haven't been myself. I cry all the time. I want to disappear into a wall. We're all in a terrible mental state. Last week, we sent letters to the Prime Minister asking to meet us, to talk to us. We have things to tell him. We want to listen to what he has to say to us. Does he even know what happened in the situation where 54 young men were killed bravely?"
Did Shirael tell you about her concerns because of what she saw beyond the border?
"She knew what was happening but didn't want to worry us. We're not young. She has a 73-year-old father with a heart condition. She did tell her friends. Her friends tell me: 'Edna, she would tell us: We warn, but they don't listen to us. Afraid to be there.' She wouldn't transmit fear. From morning until she went to sleep, she had a smile on her face. I never knew when my daughter was in a good mood and when she wasn't, because she always had a good mood. In August, she had a serious car accident, when she was at home and went to meet friends. The car was demolished. She went out with a minor scratch. If she had told me she was afraid to be there, she wouldn't have been in the army."
