Mother of Slain Hostage Slams IDF Directorate Head

Iris Haim, mother of Yotam Haim, who was mistakenly killed by IDF soldiers in Gaza, has published a scathing post directly criticizing Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, head of the Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate. Haim accused Alon of negligence and of ignoring critical intelligence regarding her son and two other hostages, Alon and Summer, who were also killed.

Haim detailed how her son and his fellow hostages left signs, including "3 Hostages Save Us" and "SOS," written in Hebrew and English, while starving in Shejaiya. She claimed Alon dismissed these as Hamas diversionary tactics. She also cited a notebook found with hostages' handwriting, a dog recording their cries, and the soldiers' own reports of Hebrew shouts from the area as ignored evidence.

According to Haim, Alon's unit received numerous reports from soldiers and commanders in the field about voices shouting in Hebrew, but Alon allegedly dismissed them as Hamas operations. She stated that even after Alon and Summer were killed and Yotam escaped, Alon did not realize they were hostages, leading to Yotam's mistaken death.

Haim further alleged that Alon's forces knew the hostages' location before the tragedy. She revealed that an officer visited her home on December 5th, stating they had information and planned a rescue, but the hostages were no longer there. Haim questioned whether Alon alerted other sectors about the potential escape or the presence of hostages.

"The worst thing for me, Mr. Nitzan Alon, is that you never came to look me in the eye and ask for my forgiveness," Haim wrote. She accused Alon of blaming the individual soldier who followed orders to kill anyone seen, and of indirectly causing her son's unnecessary death by failing to act on critical signs. Haim concluded by demanding Alon resign in shame, stating he had no right to speak after his direct role in her son's death.