The grieving father of a hostage accidentally shot dead by the IDF has demanded his country immediately declare a ceasefire to free the prisoners.
Avi Shamriz, 62, has singled out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “abandoning” his son Alon, saying eliminating Hamas must wait until all hostages are released.
In an unflinching interview, the 'broken' special forces veteran also told how his 26-year-old boy did 'everything right' to save himself but was still shot.
Mr Shamriz said: 'You can't just shoot people. Even if it is war, under pressure, under different circumstances, you cannot just shoot them.'
Alon was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, along with 28-year-old Yotam Haim, from the kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border.
Avi Shamriz, 62, has singled out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for 'abandoning' his son Alon, saying eliminating Hamas must wait until all hostages are released
Alon, 26, (pictured) was accidentally killed by IDF soldiers despite taking off his shirt to show he was carrying no explosives and waving a makeshift white flag
The computer engineering student, also a former Israeli special forces soldier, managed to escape from Hamas along with Mr Haim and another hostage, 24-year-old Samer Talalka.
But despite taking off their shirts to show they were not carrying explosives and waving a makeshift white flag, they were shot by IDF soldiers on December 15.
Mr Shamriz said he believed his son had led his fellow prisoners to safety using the skills he acquired during his military service.
“All I know is that he did everything right,” he said at the hotel north of Tel Aviv where his family has lived since the terrorists destroyed their kibbutz.
“They didn't try to stop them, they didn't try to identify them, they just shot them – and that was it.”
Mr Shamriz, a finance executive who lives with his wife Dikla, 61, and children Ido, 32, Yonatan, 34, and Roni, 20, said he feels “terrible” for those who killed his son.
“We have the fairest military in the world, believe me, I served there,” he said.
'The Prime Minister does what he wants to survive. If 135 hostages are killed and bodies are returned, he doesn't care.
“He wants to eliminate Hamas, he thinks this will give him the ticket to stay in his seat. Release all hostages first. You can eliminate Hamas within a year.”
Alon, from kibbutz Kfar Aza, was buried in Shefayim, where his mother Dikla emotionally recounted how he “survived 70 days in hell” after being snatched on October 7.
There was fear at the funeral of Alon, whose family gathered to bury him last Sunday.
“Those who abandoned you also killed you after you did everything right,” Shamriz's brother Ido said at the funeral, according to the Times of Israel.
Shamriz's mother Dikla said in her eulogy: 'You survived 70 days in hell. Just a little while and you would have been in my arms.
'We will live for you.'
The deaths of the three men sparked protests in Tel Aviv, as demonstrators demanded that authorities come up with a new plan to bring the remaining hostages home.