Niv Ayos was killed in the first days of the Hamas invasion after deciding that he could not stay at home while his friends had been issued emergency draft orders.
His father, Benny, told Kan about the tragic circumstances of his death. “On the first day, there was a warning about a blue Audi with four terrorists. He was alone in his car, a blue Mazda, and to our great sorrow Israeli special forces mistook his car for that of the terrorists. Without further ado, a firing squad riddled his car with a massive number of bullets.”
“They said on television that the terrorists had been neutralized, and a quarter of an hour later I was called and asked who the car belonged to. I answered that it was mine and that my son had been riding in it. “Why, what happened?” I asked. they told me that the car was being investigated and hung up.”
A few minutes later, Benny’s brother called and said that something happened to Niv. “The ISA called and asked them questions. We gave the same answers, and once again asked what had happened. they said they could not give details and that the car had been involved in an incident,” the father continued. He had then made his way to the Ashdod police station. “At the police station, a senior officer who had been in the field arrived and told us that there had been a case of mistaken identity, but no one told me exactly what had happened.”
The father demands that the security services give him answers. “ Four and a half months after the incident, no official source has given any details. Beyond that, we have requested that he be recognized as an IDF casualty. he was instead listed as having been killed in a hate crime. We have contacted an attorney and the head of the Manpower Directorate in the IDF, who refused our request and stabbed us in the back.”
“I hope that someone higher up will wake up, either the head of the Manpower Directorate or the Defense Minister. I don't know why they are so stubbornly refusing to recognize him as an IDF casualty and give him the honor Niv deserves as a hero of Israel.”