Iris Haim, the mother of Yotam Haim, a hostage mistakenly shot by the IDF, expressed on Monday that she harbors no resentment towards the military for her son’s death.
In an interview with Channel 12 news, Iris Haim shared, “When they came to tell us the news… the truth is that I wasn’t angry at the IDF for even a minute, truly not, and my husband wasn’t either.”
She described the overwhelming sadness and shock at Yotam’s absence but emphasized that anger was not part of their emotional response, Times of Israel reports.
Yotam, along with fellow hostages Alon Shamriz and Samar Talalka, lost their lives on December 15 when IDF troops, mistaking them for Hamas operatives, shot them in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City.
The incident is still under IDF investigation.
During the week-long shivah, many IDF soldiers and officials visited the Haim family home, expressing the profound impact the accidental shooting had on their morale. In response, Iris Haim recorded a voice message extending love and support to the soldiers involved in the tragic incident. She reassured them, stating, “I know that everything that happened is absolutely not your fault, and nobody’s fault except that of Hamas.”
Inviting the soldiers to visit her home in person, Haim emphasized the lack of anger and conveyed a similar message: “We don’t have any anger.” She highlighted that Yotam made his own decision to leave Hamas captivity, acknowledging the challenges the soldiers faced in identifying the hostages.
In a television appearance, Iris suggested that Yotam may have chosen not to let Hamas be the cause of his death, providing a sense of closure for the family. She recounted the moment she received the news of Yotam’s death on December 15, cutting short her planned interview at the Channel 12 studio.
Throughout the 70 days Yotam spent in Hamas captivity, Iris held on to the belief that he was alive. She explained that it took around 36 hours for the family to understand that Yotam had made a conscious decision.
During the shivah, the family refrained from entertaining “what if?” questions about Yotam’s fate. Iris emphasized, “The ‘what if’ is no longer relevant. If I stay in the ‘what if,’ what will I have left?”
While Iris’s sentiments reflect her perspective, not all family members of the hostages share the same viewpoint. Ido Shamriz, Alon Shamriz’s brother, conveyed a different sentiment at his brother’s funeral, stating, “The ones who abandoned you also murdered you, after you did everything right.” Avi Shamriz, Alon’s father, asserted that the IDF murdered him.
A relative of Talalka expressed the belief that Samer “could have returned alive” and criticized the lack of better judgment in the situation.
{Matzav.com Israel}
A very courageous mother. The pain her family has/is going through, we’ll never know r”l.