A young Israeli woman who survived last year's deadly Hamas attack on a music festival near Gaza died by suicide on her 22nd birthday — leading her brother to blame the government for not treating her for PTSD.
Shirel Golan wandered off from a party at her parents' home in the central Israeli town of Porat on Sunday and was found dead in the garden by her boyfriend, according to reports Tuesday.
"He ran outside shouting, 'Why did you do this? Why? Why? Why?'" Golan's brother, Eyal Golan, told USA Today.
Eyal Golan, 36, said his once-happy and ebullient sister suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and became depressed after she and her boyfriend fled the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre at the Nova music festival in the Negev Desert.
"She didn't come out from the house. She didn't come to visit us, she was withdrawn," he told CNN.
Eyal Golan also said no Israeli social services agencies reached out to help her.
"They are 100% accountable for my sister's death," he told USA Today. "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," he added.
Shirel Golan, a survivor of the Oct 7 Nova massacre, has taken her own life. She did so on her 22nd birthday.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 20, 2024
Her family says Shirel suffered from post-traumatic symptoms and was hospitalized twice. The evil that Hamas perpetrated continues to claim lives.
May this beautiful… pic.twitter.com/oa1vwvaApS
The Israeli government established a public mental health assistance program shortly after the surprise Hamas attacks that sparked the latest Mideast conflict, offering 36 free therapy sessions to survivors and 12 sessions to anyone else who needed help, CNN said.
Nearly 1,900 of about 3,000 survivors were referred to treatment as of July, according to a report by the Israeli Parliament.
But SafeHeart, a nonprofit that offers support to Nova Festival survivors, said that "Shirel's family is right — the government must step up and do more."
"We stand with them in calling for action...no more lives should be lost to the silence of untreated trauma," the group said.
אנחנו כואבים מאד את לכתה של שיראל גולן ז״ל, והיא רק בת 22. מחבקים את המשפחה ברגעי הצער הקשים האלו.שיראל תישאר בלב שלנו ולזכרה נמשיך לפעול להצלת חיים: שכל שורד ושורדת יקבלו עזרה נפשית מקצועית ללא...
The Israeli government didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, CNN said, but a statement from Israel's Welfare and Social Services Ministry published in Israeli media said that a variety of assistance was available to survivors.
The Nova festival was among the targets of Hamas militants in Gaza who launched a series of surprise attacks against Israel.
More than 380 people were killed at the festival site and about 40 were kidnapped during the bloodbath.
The United Nations has also said it had "credible information" about "multiple incidents of rape, including gang rape" that took place there and in the surrounding area.
The national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. can be reached by calling or texting 988. An online chat is also available at 988lifeline.org.
