Merav Daniel, the mother of fallen and kidnapped IDF soldier Sgt. Oz Daniel, spoke to ynet about the ongoing tension as Hamas continues to violate the agreement and her family waits anxiously for news of her son, a fallen tank fighter.
“It’s been almost two weeks of sheer nerve‑wracking anxiety,” Daniel said. “It feels like one long day that never ends. There’s so much tension and anticipation until the last hostage returns, along with the fear that it might not happen. There’s pressure and restlessness.” When asked what Israeli security officials have told the family, Daniel said: “In the end, there isn’t any precise information. But it’s reasonable to assume there’s some estimate of his whereabouts.”
The family chose not to watch the well‑known abduction video showing Oz being taken alive. The only one actually kidnapped alive and later freed was Nimrod Cohen. “We personally don’t have any footage of what happened afterward — maybe the army does,” Daniel said. “I assume the army doesn’t share all the information. We don’t have those recordings.”
So the last documentation for you is that video, and you still haven’t watched it?
“No,” she said. “I only saw very short clips of it on TV, in promos before it aired on certain programs. But by choice, I prefer not to see the full video. The few images I did see of Oz in those moments of horror have stayed with me since, and I could have easily done without them.”
Daniel said the family recently met Cohen, who came to Oz’s memorial service last week. “Nimrod really wanted to come and honor the occasion,” she said. “For us, it was a very emotional morning — to see Nimrod, to hug him, to feel him, to kiss him and to be happy that he’s with us.”
She added that her family has not yet spoken with Cohen about the morning Oz was killed. “We understand that Nimrod needs his own time to adjust,” Daniel said. “When he feels ready to talk and wants to share with us, of course, we’ll meet with him and he’ll tell us everything that happened that morning.”
Asked how she believes Israel should respond to Hamas’ violations, Daniel urged restraint. “As hard as it is for us, we just want everyone to come home already,” she said. “But at the same time, I want Israel to act wisely, not aggressively. It’s easy to react from the gut, to say, ‘Go in, keep fighting,’ but I’m not in favor of that. I think Israel, to my satisfaction, is acting correctly right now — with patience. After all, we’re dealing with a cruel terrorist organization. There’s always the option of returning to war.”