Gila Tragerman, the mother of four-year-old Daniel hy''d who was killed by a Hamas mortar shell on August 22 while in his Kibbutz Nahal Oz home, criticized the United Nations (UN) on Friday morning for their culpability in her son's death.
"It is unthinkable that from within UN buildings, schools and hospitals, terror infrastructures are operating," Gila said in an interview with Channel 2.
Indeed, not only were missiles stored in at least three UN schools and later returned to Hamas terrorists, a UN clinic was also booby-trapped, killing three IDF soldiers and seven others when it exploded; the clinic was located above dozens of terror tunnel entrances.
Gila noted that she has yet to receive a response to her poignant letter demanding UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon investigate Hamas for war crimes. Ban notified Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu half-an-hour after Daniel was murdered that his organization would be investigating Israel for "war crimes" allegations.
For now the family is living away from Nahal Oz, and currently has no plans to return. "It's impossible to return after the horrors we saw, and I'm not prepared to raise my children under those (rocket) sirens," said Gila.
"It's hard to digest the awful and painful loss," acknowledged the grieving mother. "I don't know how to go forward; he wasn't a child, he was a baby that died in our arms. We have three-and-a-half year old Yuval and four-and-a-half year old Uri; we are trying to draw energy from them."
No strength left to blame the government
There has been a large outpouring of frustration towards IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Netanyahu for their perceived lack of decisive action in erasing the terrorist threat from Gaza.
In particular, reports surfaced last week on Channel 10 that residents of Kibbutz Nahal Oz have complained of being under fire by five mortar barrels, aimed directly at their community since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge on July 8.
Residents claimed the IDF told them three barrels were embedded adjacent to schools where displaced Gaza residents were taking shelter, and the two other barrels were located adjacent to the houses of residents that the IDF was unable to contact, leading the IDF to call off strikes on all five barrels.
The report would indicate that Daniel's tragic death may have been completely preventable if the IDF had been given a freer hand in its counter-terror operation.
However, Gila remarked on Friday "we don't have the strength left to get angry. What will if help if I accuse them (Gantz and Netanyahu) of the fact that we are living in a crazy country? I won't address that."
"As long as a terrorist organization (Hamas) rules in Gaza there won't be hope," added Gila. "From war to war the status becomes more difficult and I believe that the Palestinian people deserve to live in peace and respect, not under hardships."
"They have a beautiful area of land that they can develop, also in terms of tourism and also to raise the level of education. But as long as Hamas rules there we won't be able to talk about peace or make peace, and they won't be able to have normal lives," concluded the bereaved mother.