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The brother of an Israeli woman who survived the Hamas-led attack on Israel a year ago only to die by suicide on her 22nd birthday blames government agencies that failed to treat her post-traumatic stress disorder.

Shirel Golan and her partner Adi were among thousands who fled the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im as militants began murdering and kidnapping the partygoers on Oct. 7, 2023. Her brother, Eyal Golan, says she was supposed to spend last Sunday celebrating with her family. Instead, her boyfriend found her dead in the garden at her parents’ home in the central Israeli town of Porat.

“He ran outside shouting “Why did you do this?! Why? Why? Why?” Eyal Golan told USA TODAY.

Shirel Golan was buried Monday at Tel Mond Cemetery, about 20 minutes north of Tel Aviv. Her brother says she died because the state social security and welfare agencies failed to help her.

“They are 100% accontable for my sister’s death,” said Golan, 36, who said he also has suffered from PTSD stemming from his military service in 2021. “When I am saying that the state, the country killed my sister twice, my arrows are pointing at those two elements.”

Golan fondly remembers Shirel as an infant, how he helped his parents change her diaper, feed her, play with her. He said with a laugh that when he had a daughter, Shirel became more interested in his family than him. But the entire family was worried about her since the attack and seldom left her alone for long, he said. The government agencies provided little assistance, he said.

“They have all the lists. They know everyone who is a survivor, who went to the festival, who is alive, who is dead, who was kidnapped, who was wounded like my sister, psychologically, and needs help. They didn’t step up. They were passive. They didn’t do any active measures to help.”

Golan said he hopes his sister’s death will spur the government agencies to be more proactive.

“PTSD is a problem not just in Israel,” he said. “The problem is worldwide and we need to stand up.”

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Developments:

∎ Seven East Jerusalem residents have been arrested on suspicion of planning attacks in Israel, including the assassination of an Israeli nuclear scientist and a mayor in central Israel. The suspects are all ages 19 to 23 and were recruited by an Iranian agent, police said. 

∎ The Israeli military said Tuesday that its jets hit a Hezbollah target close to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut late Monday but did not hit the hospital. The director of the hospital, Jihad Saadeh, said it was damaged: “Whether it was targeted or not, we don’t know, but Israel has no red lines.”

The Israel military says one of its Hezbollah financial targets attacked this week was a bunker that contained tens of millions of dollars in cash and gold. Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari did not say whether the money had been seized or destroyed in the attack.

“One of our main targets last night was an underground vault,” Hagari said at a briefing. “The money was being used to finance Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel.”

Hagari also said another bunker filled with cash and gold was under a hospital in Beirut but said the vault had not been targeted yet.

“According to the estimates we have, there is at least half a billion dollars in dollar bills and gold stored in this bunker,” Hagari said. “This money could and still can be used to rebuild the state of Lebanon.”

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency called Tuesday for a temporary truce to allow people to leave areas of northern Gaza as health officials said they were running out of supplies to treat patients hurt in a 3-week-old Israeli offensive. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UNRWA relief agency, said the humanitarian situation had reached a dire point as bodies are abandoned by roadsides or buried under rubble.

“In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die,” he said in a statement on social media platform X. “They feel deserted, hopeless and alone.”

“I am calling for an immediate truce, even if for a few hours, to enable safe humanitarian passage for families who wish to leave the area & reach safer places,” he said.

Contributing: Reuters

If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.