Israeli man in B.C. mourns the loss of his slain grandmother

An Israeli man living in B.C. is mourning the loss of his 74-year-old grandmother who is believed to have been killed by Hamas militants near the Gaza border.

Yoav Shimoni says he was in Toronto as the situation in Israel escalated. He tells CityNews his family was keeping in touch — keeping tabs on each other and checking in to ensure everyone was safe — when his sister mentioned that his grandmother, Bracha Levinson, had posted on Facebook.

“I saw her bleeding to death on her living room floor with men with guns standing above her … at first I was in disbelief,” he said.

Shimoni says the post showed a video of Levinson injured, covered in blood, and surrounded by armed Hamas militants where she lived at Nir Oz kibbutz. He believes they murdered his grandmother and took her phone before posting a video of the scene for her friends and family to see.

At that time, it didn’t make sense to Shimoni, as he says the Israeli government and the media hadn’t reported an infiltration on foot into Israel — missiles were more of a concern.

Levinson was among hundreds who were killed, injured, or taken hostage since the Israel-Hamas war escalated on Saturday. Over 2,000 people are estimated to have been killed on both sides.

Shimoni says he and his family have sent DNA samples to Israeli police in hopes of identifying her body among the dead.

“My grandma’s dying request was to be buried in the kibbutz which is also now burned to the ground,” he said.

Shimoni says he was visiting Nir Oz kibbutz just two weeks ago to celebrate Yom Kippur — the Jewish New Year — with his family. He and his family heard tensions were rising in Gaza, but it didn’t seem like an imminent threat at the time.

“We were under the understanding that, okay, things start to go like bad we can go into shelter, then, worst case the house explodes but we will be safe,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’ve come to learn that that is not the case.”

Nir Oz kibbutz was a safe haven for Shimoni growing up, he says he would spend summers there — staying for months at a time. He says some of his fondest memories came from those summers, notably when he’d spend time at the pool with his grandmother. He explains that it was an extremely tight-knit community in which everyone knew each other, cared for each other, and would help raise each others’ kids.

“I would walk and roam free from like, three, four years old because I felt so safe,” he said.

“That’s why so difficult that, not only has my grandmother passed away, but the whole community where my mom grew up, where I spent most of my summers has now burned to the ground. A lot of the members of the community are either killed, viciously burned, or kidnapped. Some thankfully survived and are now looking for refuge.”

Remembering his grandmother, Shimoni says she was the kind of person who was always more worried about others than herself, noting just how selfless she was even in her last moments.

“Every time that there would be missiles or any kind of events, she would be more concerned about our safety,” he said. “That also echoed all the way up to her last moments, when my mom and my aunt were talking with her on their group chat. She was more concerned about their safety than her own … then not 10 minutes after her last message, we saw the video.”

“I want her to not be remembered by the horrific acts and the video of her murder, I want her to be remembered by the amazing person she was.”

Shimoni tells CityNews his parents are in a safe situation in the south of Israel for now, and his friends in the area are doing what they can to help those in need.

“I honestly feel a bit helpless all the way out here from Canada because I’m not able to be there and help,” he said.

“I have a friend who is not technically in the reserves, but she’s in fashion school in Israel … and as of right now, her whole school all day every day is sewing and fixing uniforms to make sure that the soldiers have things to wear, and all the kids that have now lost everything have clothes they can have.”

With files from Cole Schisler and The Associated Press