Current:Home > ScamsGrandson recounts seeing graphic video of beloved grandmother killed by Hamas -EliteFunds
Grandson recounts seeing graphic video of beloved grandmother killed by Hamas
View
Date:2025-04-12 23:35:27
Yoav Shimoni opened up to ABC News about the traumatic moment he saw a graphic video of his beloved grandmother lying on the floor of her home dying, surrounded by Hamas terrorists who posted her final moments on her Facebook for her family to see.
Just 10 minutes before militants broke into Bracha Levinson's home on Saturday at Israel's Nir Oz kibbutz, Levinson was texting her daughters, "concerned about them more than she was herself," said Shimoni, 24, who lives in Canada.
But then Shimoni's sister frantically messaged the family text group asking if they had seen their grandmother's Facebook post.
"Immediately, I went to her Facebook page. And I saw a video with her lying on her living room floor with her arms clenched on her chest, covered in blood, and blood surrounding her. A few men with guns standing above her and shouting," Shimoni said.
MORE: Timeline: A look into the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
"We all saw the video. Even my little brother," he said.
"I was freaking out, trying to make sense of what's happening. Just, like, pacing around my condo," he said. "I'm trying to call my parents, and hearing my mom screaming her lungs out to the phone when my dad is trying to, like, calm me down and try to explain to me what is happening."
The 24-year-old was in shock, he said, and also scared for the rest of his family who live in Israel.
As the day went on, Shimoni said, the family learned that not only did the militants take Levinson's and post "her dying body for us to see, but they also burned down her house and the entire community which my mom grew up in, I spent most of my summers in."
MORE: How to cope with photos, videos coming out of Israel-Hamas conflict, experts reveal
Levinson, 74, lived in Israel since she was a child after the Holocaust. She raised her children as a single mother in the Nir Oz kibbutz, where she lived the rest of her life. She was known in the community for the bicycle she always rode around as her main transportation.
"She was truly the pillar of our family, and a pillar in her community," her grandson said.
Shimoni last saw his grandmother at her home two weeks ago for the Jewish high holidays. Levinson always felt safest at her home, he said.
"There was no sense of any danger there," he noted. "Coming from the outside to that region, always you feel a bit tense, but it's always the thought of like 'OK, if there's a missile or something, then go to the shelter and we'll be safe.' Which, unfortunately on Saturday, that wasn't the case."
MORE: What is Hamas? The militant group behind surprise attack on Israel has ruled Gaza for years
Shimoni said he wants his grandmother to be remembered for her love of her family and her kibbutz.
He said he's comforted knowing his grandmother didn't have to witness "her community being torn apart."
And Shimoni said his heart breaks for everyone whose loved ones were taken hostage.
"At least I know that my grandmother is not suffering anymore," he said. "I imagine the pain that the neighbors, my mom's colleagues, and my family's friends, and all my friends are experiencing right now, with the unknowing of what happens with their loved ones that are in Gaza."
veryGood! (699)
Related
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Exxon announced record earnings. It's bound to renew scrutiny of Big Oil
- Inflation is plunging across the U.S., but not for residents of this Southern state
- 8 Simple Hacks to Prevent Chafing
- Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
- Friends Actor Paxton Whitehead Dead at 85
- Brody Jenner and Tia Blanco Are Engaged 5 Months After Announcing Pregnancy
- Inflation is plunging across the U.S., but not for residents of this Southern state
- Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
- Warming Trends: Music For Sinking Cities, Pollinators Need Room to Spawn and Equal Footing for ‘Rough Fish’
Ranking
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Ruby Princess cruise ship has left San Francisco after being damaged in dock crash
- From a Raft in the Grand Canyon, the West’s Shifting Water Woes Come Into View
- A Plea to Make Widespread Environmental Damage an International Crime Takes Center Stage at The Hague
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- AbbVie's blockbuster drug Humira finally loses its 20-year, $200 billion monopoly
- The Fed has been raising interest rates. Why then are savings interest rates low?
- Days of Our Lives Actor Cody Longo's Cause of Death Revealed
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Make Your Jewelry Sparkle With This $9 Cleaning Pen That Has 38,800+ 5-Star Reviews
Do Leaked Climate Reports Help or Hurt Public Understanding of Global Warming?
The IPCC Understated the Need to Cut Emissions From Methane and Other Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, Climate Experts Say
The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
Miss a credit card payment? Federal regulators want to put new limits on late fees
The Biden EPA Withdraws a Key Permit for an Oil Refinery on St. Croix, Citing ‘Environmental Justice’ Concerns
Trump sues Bob Woodward for releasing audio of their interviews without permission