Cable car disaster victims
Cable car disaster victimsReuters

The family of Eitan Biran, the sole survivor of last year's cable car crash in Italy, is still fighting for custody of him, Israel Hayom reported.

Eitan is the sole survivor of a cable car crash in Italy which killed 14 people, including his great-grandparents, both of his parents, and his two-year-old brother. Late last year, Eitan was brought to Israel by his grandfather Shmuel Peleg, without his guardian aunt's permission. An international arrest warrant has been issued against Peleg by an Italian court, and a Tel Aviv court ordered Eitan returned to Italy.

"A year has passed since the horrific tragedy in Italy, a tragedy that took the lives of five beloved family members and left us pained and broken," the Peleg family said, according to Israel Hayom. "In the dark and the horrible despondency which covered our lives, one ray of hope continued to shine - our beloved Eitan, a little child who was revealed as a great fighter and who miraculously survived."

"Eitan is with us in our hearts and our thoughts, and we will continue to fight and to work for him so that he will grow up in Israel, his natural home, in the home of his extended and loving family - the place where his parents and his little brother are buried. Despite the fact that we were sentenced to be forced to be physically distant from Eitan, and there are limits and set times when we may speak to him, we did not give up and we will never give up on the right to be part of his life and the option that he will return to live in Israel.

"The legal discussions in Italy are still ongoing and we hope that the court in Milano and the people involved in Eitan's affairs will see his welfare as the top priority and fix the horrible injustice caused to him and to us."