Yossi Tzur can’t remember the last full-length conversation he had with his 17-year-old son Asaf before a March 5, 2003, suicide attack on bus line 37 in Haifa, Israel, killed 17 people and injured over 50 others.
On the day of the bus attack, Asaf boarded the same bus he took almost every day and was on his way home from school when a Hamas suicide bomber blew himself up. Tzur last spoke to his son earlier that day because Asaf saw he missed a call from his father, and he wanted to call him back.
The conversation lasted about 30 seconds, with Tzur telling Asaf that he had not meant to call him, or perhaps the call was from another day. It was the last time father and son spoke to one another.
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“I don’t know if it’s from the shock, but I cannot remember the last meaningful conversation that we had,” Tzur told The Christian Post.
“The pain, in my view, is built on two things: memories and longing for the person. And when you start up, you have a lot of memories. And you don’t long so much because you just saw him a week ago, a month ago. But as time goes by, you lose the memories.”
“You know, everything gets foggy,” he added. “You don’t remember a lot of things. You don’t remember the sound, the smells. Losing memories is very painful.”
In the years following, Tzur has devoted himself to commemorating his son’s life, whether that be through art or memorial campaigns. While time has not lessened the wound, the father has made efforts to heal by talking with family members and support groups about his grief.
Now Tzur is concerned about Israel releasing one of the leaders behind the attack and other terrorists in exchange for the remaining hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023.
In 2011, Israel released three people convicted of planning the bus bombing attack — Maedh Waal Taleb Abu Sharakh, Majdi Muhammad Ahmed Amr and Fadi Muhammad Ibrahim al-Jaaba — as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
As part of the deal, Israel agreed to release 1,000 Palestinian militants in exchange for an Israeli soldier captured in 2006. Among those released included senior Hamas member Yahya Sinwar, who planned the terror group’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel. The attack resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and over 240 others being taken hostage.
Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in response to the invasion to eradicate Hamas and secure the release of the hostages. Following over 500 days of war, Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary ceasefire deal, with the terror group expected to release several hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
One of the terrorists that Tzur heard Israel agreed to release is Ali Hasan Al-Ragbi, the mastermind behind the bus bombing attack that killed his son.
“I don’t think that we should release terrorists,” Tzur said. “But because of the number of hostages and because of who is there — women, children and the elderly — I decided that I’m not going to object to it at this time.”
To Tzur, what matters most is that Israel takes steps to prepare for the future following the release of the terrorists.
“And I think the next thing that we will do, if we release those terrorists but continue to destroy Hamas and eliminate Hamas, and make sure that nothing similar to what happened on Oct. 7th will happen in the future, then it was worth it,” he said.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
