Current:Home > StocksTrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-Grandson recounts seeing graphic video of beloved grandmother killed by Hamas -WealthX
TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center-Grandson recounts seeing graphic video of beloved grandmother killed by Hamas
Ethermac View
Date:2025-04-08 13:03:32
Yoav Shimoni opened up to ABC News about the traumatic moment he saw a graphic video of his beloved grandmother lying on TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Centerthe 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! (7153)
Related
- Intellectuals vs. The Internet
- Coming playoff expansion puts college football fans at top of Misery Index for Week 13
- 1.3 million chickens to be culled after bird flu detected at Ohio farm
- 2 more women file lawsuits accusing Sean Diddy Combs of sexual abuse
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- WWE Survivor Series WarGames 2023 live results: CM Punk returns, highlights from Chicago
- College football bold predictions for Week 13: Florida State's season spoiled?
- Max Verstappen caps of historic season with win at Abu Dhabi F1 finale
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Tens of thousands march in London calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza
Ranking
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Michigan, Washington move up in top five of US LBM Coaches Poll, while Ohio State tumbles
- Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in mask issue shows he's better than NHL leadership
- Man pleads to 3rd-degree murder, gets 24 to 40 years in 2016 slaying of 81-year-old store owner
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Australia commits another $168 million to monitoring migrants freed from indefinite detention
- Greek police arrest 6 alleged migrant traffickers and are looking for 7 others from the same gang
- How did humans get to the brink of crashing climate? A long push for progress and energy to fuel it
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
Court document claims Meta knowingly designed its platforms to hook kids, reports say
24 hostages released as temporary cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war takes effect
Flight data recorder recovered from US Navy plane that overshot the runway near Honolulu
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
5, including 2 children, killed in Ohio mobile home fire on Thanksgiving, authorities say
John Travolta Shares Sweet Tribute to Son Benjamin for His 13th Birthday
Dead, wounded or AWOL: The voices of desperate Russian soldiers trying to get out of the Ukraine war