Two victims with ties to Canada killed in Hamas attacks on Israel were remembered emotionally by their loved ones Wednesday, who called on the world to recognize the brutality of what happened.
Tiferet Lapidot, 22, was formally identified by authorities on Monday, more than a week after her death at a music festival near the border with the Gaza Strip, where the Hamas attack began on 7 october. Her family believed she was one of those held hostage.
“She was like a daughter to me,” said Harel Lapidot, her uncle. “The funeral was horrible, the kidnapping of a happy girl, who helped, who loved. »
Tiferet Lapidot was an Israeli citizen whose father had roots in Saskatchewan. In an interview Wednesday, a Montreal-based parent described Tiferet Lapidot as a charismatic and compassionate person.
Oran Zlotnik said that Mme Lapidot had taught in Africa and lived in Australia. Mr. Zlotnik added that she had returned to Israel for the holidays and was just days away from her 23e birthday.
She was in contact with her mother, who received a phone call towards the end of the festival to tell her she was hiding in a bush. She asked her mother if she should join the other people who were trying to escape or if she should stay here in the bush and try to hide.
Oran Zlotnik on Tiferet Lapidot
The phone line went out and later the family learned that the phone signal had been traced to the Gaza Strip.
“We had to assume she was there, because if she was there and we didn’t do anything, it would be horrible,” Mr. Zlotnik testified.
Mr. Zlotnik explained that when the cell phone of one of Ms.me Lapidot, who was confirmed dead, was also located in Gaza, the family realized it was possible she had not been taken hostage.
For Harel Lapidot, what happened to his niece evokes memories of the Holocaust.
“We know full well that they were chased away,” Mr. Lapidot said. They fled, were hunted and killed. »
Harel Lapidot, a Canadian citizen, thanked the Jewish community in Canada and the MPs who provided him with their help and support. The family met the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, during her stay in Israel.
“They didn’t know us, but they helped us, and I’m proud to be Canadian and proud to be a Jewish Canadian,” he said.
Killed while protecting his fiancée
PHOTO PROVIDED BY AYELET SHACHAR EPSTEIN/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Netta Epstein
Netta Epstein, 21, was killed when Kibbutz Kfar Aza, her community located a few kilometers east of the Gaza Strip, was attacked 11 days ago. He was the eldest of Ayelet Shachar-Epstein’s three children.
“Netta was a very easy-going person who loved life,” said Ayelet Shachar-Epstein, who described him as an exceptional goalie who had volunteered at a home for children with special needs. He completed his mandatory military service just two months ago, and spent most of his time in combat, she added.
Since his death, many people he met during his young life have contacted the family to pay their respects.
He was a man who loved living. He was happy to be alive.
Ayelet Shachar-Epstein
She learned of the circumstances of his death from messages he sent her moments before he was killed, and from his fiancée, Irene Shavit, who survived. They had been in a relationship for 18 months and were planning to get married.
Netta Epstein was in a secure room with Mme Shavit; he jumped on a grenade thrown by the attackers.
“She witnessed this horror and she survived,” said M.me Shachar-Epstein.
Mr. Epstein is Canadian through his maternal grandmother, born in Montreal in 1948. Many members of his extended family still live in the city.
Mme Shachar-Epstein lost five members of her family in the attack on October 7 in the early morning hours. Besides his son, his mother-in-law and two brothers-in-law were killed. A fifth family member — a nephew — is missing.
She lived in the same community: Kibbutz Kfar Aza. On the day of the attack, his father-in-law called to say that his wife had died on the kibbutz. Mme Shachar-Epstein says she didn’t realize the danger at the time and went to the scene to see what happened.
“I ran to help him later. It was only later that I understood that what I was doing was really very dangerous because there were terrorists everywhere, said M.me Shachar-Epstein. I didn’t imagine we would see her dead on her porch, shot in cold blood, killed by a gun, the remains of the bullet lying right next to her. »
At Netta’s funeral on Tuesday, Mme Shachar-Epstein reported that she read a letter she wrote to him during the 27 hours she spent in a secure room with her father-in-law, knowing that her son was dead.
“It was a kind of diary, and that’s what I read at his funeral. »
Mme Shachar-Epstein stressed that it was important for the whole world to know the scale of the brutal attack her country suffered.
“It is very important for me to tell these stories to the world so that people understand that we were not standing in front of them shooting, but sleeping in our beds. »