"A child does not just disappear": Haymanot Kassau's father sends a message to the family of the missing child from Ashkelon
While the search for 4-year-old Yuval Kogan in Ashkelon continues, Tesfaye Kassau, whose daughter has been missing from Safed for 880 days, has sent a message of solidarity to the family. He calls on the police to utilize all available resources to locate the children: "You must prove to the bad people that you will not allow kidnappings in Israel."
"We are closely familiar with the fear and the pain": The disappearance of 4-year-old Yuval Kogan, who has been missing since Thursday afternoon in the Ashkelon beach area, is reopening one of the most painful wounds in Israeli society. Tesfaye Kassau, the father of Haymanot Kassau, who has been missing from the absorption center in Safed for 880 days, issued a message of solidarity with the Kogan family today.
"The Kassau family feels the pain of the Kogan family. For 880 days, we have not only been hoping, praying, and doing everything in our power to bring Haymanot home, but also doing everything so that no other family will find themselves in our situation," stated Tesfaye, who has been living in uncertainty since February 2024.
Kassau's words come against the backdrop of the grave concerns expressed by Yuval Kogan's mother, who believes her son was kidnapped from the dunes where he was walking with his father and sisters. Addressing these concerns, Kassau noted: "In recent weeks, we have been exposed to a number of kidnapping attempts that failed by luck, and now, with great fear, we see what the Kogan family is going through."
Haymanot's father appealed to the Israel Police and the security forces involved in the searches, including the Shin Bet, demanding that they intensify their efforts:
"We have said all along, and I repeat it again: the Israel Police must use all means. It must do everything to find Yuval and Haymanot safe and sound."
Kassau quoted the Police Commissioner's statement that "a child in the State of Israel does not just disappear," and emphasized the state's duty to provide deterrence:
"The Israel Police must prove and ensure to the bad people among us that it will not allow the kidnapping and disappearance of children, thereby preventing further attempts. I call on the people of Israel to assist the Kogan family, and I am full of hope that we will be able to see our children at home – and now."
Meanwhile, police forces, ZAKA, special units of the IDF, numerous volunteers, and the maritime police continue to scan the coastline and the northern dunes in Ashkelon in a desperate attempt to find a lead that will lead to Yuval.
