The family of Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski is demanding answers after Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) announced Tuesday that it had lost contact with the terror cell holding him in Gaza. The announcement follows a reported Israeli operation in the area where Braslavski was believed to be held.

“No one knows where Rom is—not the IDF, not PIJ. The only thing we were ever told is that he is being held alone,” the Braslavski family said in a statement. “We are heartbroken and in pain.” The family added that they had requested an emergency meeting with senior Israeli defense officials, but only one member of the security cabinet responded.

“We want to know where our son is. We want those responsible to sit with us and present the full picture—not fragments of information or partial truths,” the statement continued.

Braslavski, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival, was 19 at the time and had reportedly stayed behind to assist wounded concertgoers as a volunteer medic. He has been held incommunicado since, and his family says they have received no updates on his condition or whereabouts for more than a year.

“For more than a year, we haven’t had a single shred of information about what’s happening to him,” said his cousin, Adam Hajj, in an interview with KAN. “We don’t know if he’s eating or drinking, or if he’s even being kept warm.”

The family also criticized remarks by National Missions Minister Orit Strock of the Religious Zionism Party, who suggested that the IDF should operate in all areas of Gaza—even if it endangers the lives of hostages.

“There should be no ‘do-not-touch zones’ in Gaza,” Strock said. “To win this war, we need to take control of these areas as well.”

The Braslavski family called Strock’s statement “insensitive and cruel,” urging her to “imagine herself in our position.”

“If she could feel what I, Tami, feel as a mother, she wouldn’t be able to speak the way she did,” the statement read. “Let’s see if then they’d still prioritize land over hostages.”

Democratic Party chairman MK Yair Golan also weighed in, condemning the news as “a nightmare coming true.”

“If we do not bring back the hostages, we risk losing them forever,” Golan posted on X. “For the people of Israel, this is a nightmare coming true; for the Israeli government, it is policy. We must reach a deal now. We must bring the hostages home.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)