Shirel Golan's body was found in her apartment in northwestern Israel on Sunday, October 20th, her 22nd birthday, Daily Mail reports.
Golan had attended the festival with her partner Adi. They reportedly hid under a bush for hours and refused to get in a car with 11 other people who were trying to escape after Hamas militants engulfed the grounds. Those 11 people were either slaughtered or taken hostage shortly after. The militants killed 364 people total from the festival that day.
Golan and her partner were rescued by police, however Golan began displaying symptoms of PTSD in the following weeks such as dissociation and withdrawal, according to her family. She was hospitalized twice, according to the New York Post.
However her brother, Eyal, has blamed Israel for her death, saying that the Jewish state's government did not do enough to care for the surviving victims of the massacre.
“If the state had taken care of her, none of this would have happened,” Eyal said. “She said that she doesn’t get any help from the state. She said that she only gets aid from the [Tribe of Nova Community Association].”
He told the Jerusalem Post: "The state killed Golan. If the state doesn’t wake up, there will be more cases like this.”
He described how their mother had to retire early to take care of Golan and that the struggling young woman could not be left alone. "And the only time we left her alone was today – and she decided to end her life," Eyal stated.
Israel's Welfare and Social Services Ministry has denied these claims, saying Golan was “recognized and treated in the welfare system even before October 7 and especially after."
