Mother of soldier declared dead: They couldn’t even give back your body

The mother of Sgt. Shaked Dahan, a soldier missing since October 7 who the army declared dead on Tuesday along with two others, writes on Facebook that she will not observe the traditional seven-day Jewish mourning period until her son’s body is returned from Gaza.

“I did for you what I needed to as a mother. I managed to keep you safe and protect you in many situations,” writes Sigalit Gal. “You’ve been taken from me forever. They took you and didn’t bother to return you, not even your body.”

“They don’t respect you, don’t respect the family and certainly not the state,” she adds. “I’ve decided I will not sit shiva until your body is returned.”

The army said Tuesday that Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20, Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, and Dahan, 19, were “fallen soldiers held hostage by a terror group,” after earlier listing them as abducted.

The military’s chief rabbi declared their deaths based on various findings obtained by the IDF, but only Yaakov Ahimasm and Brodski can be buried according to Jewish law.