For 224 days, Amit Buskila's family hoped for the best. On Friday, the IDF announced that Amit Buskila was murdered and her body was abducted to Gaza from the Nova music festival. Her uncle, Shimon Atias, who received her last call on that horrible Saturday, recalled that she recited Shema with her last breaths.
"Last Friday, we received the terrible news after a long period of uncertainty, will there be a deal or not? Will she come out alive or not? Injured or not? And with whom? My mind was running constantly, every second and every moment," he said.
"We fought across borders and continents, went to rabbis and tzadikim, held protests, I turned the world upside down for her. That's why she called me on her last call. And it ended sadly and painfully. It will take us years to process and accept. Tough years are ahead of us. And that's it, Amit is gone, our world shattered. Just like that."
Shimon recounted the last conversation with Amit, in which she informed him from the Nova music festival she was being fired at. "She told me they were shooting at her, I was obviously powerless. I screamed, I yelled. It felt like someone twisted a knife in my heart, that's how it felt to me. There's more to the conversation that wasn't published and the rest was also difficult, but I pushed it aside and wanted to believe and hoped I hadn't heard correctly. Maybe it wasn't her, maybe it wasn't. It was hard, the conversation wasn't easy at all, and the rest of the conversation wasn't simple at all either. I was on edge, uncertain if she was alive or not."
"In the conversation, I heard the terrorists approaching, and I heard her pray to God. She was truly a great righteous person. She recited Shema and then I heard more gunshots. I hoped it wasn't gunshots aimed at her, but today it turns out I was wrong because Amit was murdered while I was on the line with her. I heard the gunshots and her last breaths. It's difficult."
Shimon shared about the struggles of Amit's mother, his sister, since that bitter announcement from the IDF. "When I think about my sister, I just choke up," he said.
"My sister has been through tough years as a single mother. Years of turmoil and hell to raise Amit and her brother. She didn't start dating again for the sake of her children. She's one of those old-fashioned women. I don't know what will become of her, because Amit slept with her in the same bed. It's very hard to think about, but I promised Amit and I promise my sister that I won't leave her for a moment and that I will take care of her all my life. May God give me the strength to hold on and be with my sister and take care of her. It's hard, very hard."
Commenting on the government's conduct throughout the war, Atias said, "I think the government and the army made a mistake, we listened to Biden and the world, and the fact that we didn't enter so forcefully and didn't turn every stone from the beginning, and we paused the ground offensive only to continue it four months later. All this delayed the return of the captives, whether they were alive or not, and the fact is that Amit and the three hostages found on Friday were in northern Gaza. Apparently, we weren't really deep in the north of the Strip, and that's a shame.
"It's not that they didn't care about the families. I know the government wants to bring back our loved ones, but they didn't handle it correctly. In one day, Hamas murdered 1,500 civilians, soldiers and police officers, and kidnapped 240 people. It took them almost three weeks or even a month to launch the ground operation.
"Everything had to happen at the same moment, as happened in the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago. We had to fight the enemy, and just as they surprised us, we should have surprised them. We told them that we're preparing for a ground operation, and we asked for Biden's approval. So there's a failure here, they continued the failure of October 7 by not having plans for such a situation. I just don't understand," he added.
"In this opportunity, I want to thank the IDF soldiers who rescued Amit and risked their lives and retrieved the bodies. These are soldiers who are also civilians, who enlisted for reserve service. They deserve the Medal of Honor and recognition for this rescue operation."