HEARTBREAKING: Father: ‘Not All Returned From Gaza, My Son’s Head Is Still There’
Amir Zini, whose son Nirel was murdered on October 7, says public claims that there are no remaining hostages in Gaza ignore a painful reality: his son’s body was not returned in full. Speaking with Arutz Sheva, Zini described learning that after the burial of Ran Gvili, officials declared the matter closed, even though Nirel’s head has never been recovered or brought to burial.
Zini portrayed Nirel as someone who lived with deep responsibility for others, never abandoning anyone and always looking out for those around him. That character, he said, was evident both in civilian life and during his military service, including after a serious injury in 2015 that left lasting damage.
For nearly two years, Zini chose not to speak publicly. He felt that other families were enduring even greater anguish, with no burial place at all to visit. While Nirel had a funeral and a grave, Zini said, the knowledge that part of his son was missing weighed heavily but kept him silent.
That silence ended after encouragement from a neighbor and friend, Brigadier General (Res.) Oren Solomon, who urged him to come to the Knesset. Zini did so and later expanded on the experience in an Arutz Sheva interview. “From the very first moment, we felt something was incomplete, but we didn’t know what exactly,” he said. He added, “The media didn’t want to deal with it. They told us it was too difficult and painful to say his head was missing. I told them that I didn’t write this script…” Zini also recounted that Nirel was killed alongside Niv Raviv and had planned to propose to her two days later. The engagement was set for the anniversary of the 2015 injury that ultimately forced him to leave the IDF after six more years of service, when doctors discovered his heart was functioning at only a quarter of its capacity.
According to Zini, police investigators from Lahav 433 were aware that Nirel’s head was missing but did not pass that information along to the family or other authorities. “They were the only ones who knew that perhaps terrorists had taken the head, and this information was never passed to anyone, especially not to us as a family. Someone decided for us that they knew what was best for us to know and what not to know.”
Even when the family was summoned to Lahav 433, Zini said the issue was not raised. “Only after a few questions did I realize there was no investigation. I demanded to see pictures. They told me the pictures were too difficult and questioned why I should see them. I felt there was something they didn’t want me to see,” he recalled. After insisting and signing documents, he was shown images that confirmed his son had been buried without his head.
When Zini pressed to find out who else had been informed, he was initially told the Shin Bet had not asked for the information and therefore did not receive it. He was also told the military had not been notified, a statement later walked back with the claim that the information had been transferred. When he asked for documentation, he was told the update had been delivered verbally.
Zini went on to describe the work of the forensic identification unit led by Lt. Col. Yossi Cohen, involving roughly a thousand soldiers who collected and identified body parts after the attack. Yet, he said, once it became clear to him that Nirel was buried incomplete, he learned the unit had already been disbanded. The search for the missing remains was never defined as a formal “mission,” he said, meaning no order was issued to retrieve his son’s head, unlike in other cases. Without such a designation, he said, nothing moved forward.
He described repeated attempts to get answers, often met with silence or partial explanations. When he asked why Nirel was not considered a hostage, he was told there was no intelligence pointing in that direction. Zini challenged that logic, asking how intelligence could be found if no one was looking. He said the Shin Bet told him it does not act on civilian cases unless formally requested by police or another authority, and no such request had ever been made.
Frustrated, Zini said the family began searching on its own. Each morning at five, he would go to the area of Be’eri where Nirel’s body had been found. Alongside relatives and occasional volunteers, they combed the ground. At times, they used a tractor to lift small amounts of earth, carefully returning the soil at day’s end so as not to disrupt the lives of local residents.
Asked whether he regretted waiting so long to speak out, Zini said he did not. He noted that once his story began circulating, Lahav 433 investigators called to request a meeting. “I told them I wouldn’t come if they didn’t have anything new for me,” he said. “Only if they admit to their mistake and say they intend to begin corrective actions will I come. Now, I don’t believe I will get such a call.”
Zini said his account did reach members of the Knesset. During one search in the Gaza-border community, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana arrived at the site. The two were introduced, and Zini shared his story. Ohana contacted the police, who acknowledged it was unacceptable for a father to be searching the ground for his son’s bones and promised to address the issue. Zini said he was then referred from one officer to another until reaching one who said he had been asked to help but given no timetable. Acting on his own initiative, the officer later brought cadets on a free Friday to assist in sifting sand, though nothing was found.
“I was referred to Gal Hirsch. I went to meet him after phone calls and conversations. The meeting felt like they were doing me a favor,” Zini said. He added, “I sent a letter to the Prime Minister through his assistants. I don’t know if he received it or read it.” At this stage, Zini said he expects at least a meeting with the Prime Minister, whom he sees as the authority capable of ordering a serious, renewed search.
As for what he believes happened, Zini was blunt. “Terrorists took the head to trade it.” He said another victim, Aviad Edri, was found in a similar state just meters away, and that family also was not informed. “The Chevra Kadisha returned the bodies to honor the family. I had a feeling that Nirel’s body was being returned,” he said, as he described learning the disturbing details of Aviad Edri’s case, in which he was personally involved. Zini said the choice not to tell the families was made by a senior committee that “decided we don’t need to know.”
“No soldier should risk their lives to bring the head, but it should be a mission,” Zini stressed. He said that during the operation to locate Ran Gvili, soldiers encountered many unexamined findings, including heads. Some of those soldiers sent him photographs so he could review them independently, though nothing has yet been confirmed. “What is not ordered will not be done,” he said. Zini added that beyond his personal struggle, his goal is broader: “for us to know who we are dealing with and that Amalek exists in our generation. If terrorists can get away with it, we should name the child after him.”
{Matzav.com}
