Keren Perlman, the mother of one of the children attacked Thursday in the near-lynching in Samaria described the event, stating that "I met my son and he told me about the terrifying trauma they had undergone, he said they sprayed pepper gas into the cave (where the children hid), they took their bags, their equipment and their food. Children took upon themselves commitments, some felt that their death was approaching and said Shema Yisrael, others cried uncontrollably.
Perlman criticized the army for not showing up for an hour and a half. "An hour and a half the kids were hiding in a crumbling cave with hundreds of Arabs above them. An hour and a half that the brave tour guides were standing at the entrance and being pelted with stones and blows in order to protect the kids and the army doesn't even bother showing up."