Parents of Daniel Tregerman urge UN chief to investigate Hamas crimes
In a letter to Ban, Gila and Doron Tregerman tell of the day their 4-year-old son was killed by a mortar fired from Gaza; 'Why are you silent?' parents ask Ban.
Gila and Doron Tregerman, whose four-year-old son Daniel was killed in a mortar hit on their home in Nahal Oz, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday in protest of the UN inquiry commission whose mandate is to investigate whether Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip constitute as war crimes.
"Daniel was killed from a mortar shell that was fired by Hamas members from an elementary school for boys in Gaza City," they wrote. "It wasn't a stray shell. It wasn't accidental death."
"It wouldn't investigate how Hamas is abusing the Palestinian people, and how its members impose on residents of Gaza, even on children, digging tunnels aimed only for terrorism against Israel," they went on to say.
"It wouldn't investigate how after these excavations carried out under duress and in slave-like conditions, the Hamas murdered the diggers, even the children, just to be sure they won't be able to pass information to Israel."
"Why are you silent? Does your silence indicate consent with the abuse of the Palestinian people and the Israeli people?" the parents charged. "The answers to these questions will remain unknown."
Daniel was killed on Friday two weeks ago, only a few days before the official end of the Gaza operation. He was playing in the family home's living room when the Code Red siren was sounded, but did not make it to shelter in time.
"All the precautions that we have taken have failed. Daniel, 4.5-years-old, was killed in our house, while playing with Yuval in a tent built indoors and not outside, because it's dangerous," the parents wrote Ban. "He died in our hands, in front of his little sister and best friend Yuval, 3.5 years old. He died in front of Uri, only four months old and right before our eyes, his mother and father. We failed. We couldn't protect our beautiful and talented baby."
In the letter, the parents introduce themselves and their family to Ban, and describe their impossible daily routine under rocket fire, a life they've been living for years.
"We were a happy family. We lived in Kibbutz Nahal Oz near Gaza, and found ourselves constantly debating whether not to abandon Nahal Oz and move to another location, quieter, safer, far from rocket fire from Gaza, and far away from the alarms," they wrote.
"Then came the threat of terrorist tunnels, which Hamas members dug from Gaza to Israel under our home to hurt us. At night we heard noises and voices digging beneath us. Thus, in the last six months our children slept with the window closed and locked. We were afraid that they will be kidnapped from us.
"Can you imagine our life, Mr. Secretary-General? How do you live in constant fear of mortar shell and terrorists emerging from tunnels?"
The parents heard of the UN's decision to launch an inquiry commission when they were sitting shiva and mourning their son.
"You informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu half an hour after our Daniel was killed, perhaps while he was lying dead in our living room, covered in a blanket," they wrote.
Ilan Curiel contributed to this report.
