Oct. 7 victim's mother says she cannot grieve daughter's death while husband is still a hostage

Gali Idan, wife to Gaza hostage Tsachi Idan and mother to October 7 victim Maayan, spoke with CNN this week that she cannot begin grieving her daughter's death while she is in an "ongoing war to save her husband."

Idan began the interview by noting what she misses about her husband, who is still held by Hamas in Gaza, saying that she misses his voice, hugs, their times together with their kids, making dinner, and watching movies.

"It's too long," she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer twice. "It's unbearable. They have to come back."

Idan then admitted that she hadn't been to her daughter's grave. "I need to go and see her. But I can't. I need Tsachi to be here. We need to do it together. He needs to grieve with me. We need to hold each other through this."

Idan was seen in the interview wearing a shirt that had the faces of her husband and daughter, with captions above them - with the one for the former saying "Kidnapped" and the latter saying "Murdered."

Idan said the most horrific marks on the Jewish people are the Holocaust and October 7 - describing the latter as a "stain on Israeli history and it will be even worse if the hostages don't come back. I will not allow them to sacrifice my husband for the sake of war."

The rest of the family

She then describes her kids - 16, 12, and 10 respectively - and their world-shifting perspectives since October 7. "We are talking about Maayan all the time. They are sometimes breaking down and crying and missing their sister." She also noted that one of her kids, Sharon, went into her room in the middle of the night crying and saying that "she wants her daddy back.

"What can I say? What answer is there? I can't bring her dad back," Idan continued, tears rolling down her face. "I need the government to bring Tsachi back alive. He was taken alive. He needs to be brought back alive."

She ends the interview with a strong belief that her husband will return alive.