Current:Home > reviewsTradeEdge Exchange:Grandson recounts seeing graphic video of beloved grandmother killed by Hamas -EverVision Finance
TradeEdge Exchange:Grandson recounts seeing graphic video of beloved grandmother killed by Hamas
Ethermac Exchange View
Date:2025-04-10 17:24:49
Yoav Shimoni opened up to ABC News about the traumatic moment he saw a graphic video of his beloved grandmother lying on TradeEdge Exchangethe 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! (92)
Related
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- Ukraine marks Independence Day and vows to keep fighting Russia as it remembers the fallen
- Lawsuit over deadly seaplane crash in Washington state targets aircraft operator and manufacturer
- Black elementary school students singled out for assemblies about improving low test scores
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- These are 5 ways surging mortgage rates are reshaping the housing market
- 'Miracle house' owner hopes it will serve as a base for rebuilding Lahaina
- Fran Drescher says actors strike she’s leading is an ‘inflection point’ that goes beyond Hollywood
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- 'No chance of being fairly considered': DOJ sues Musk's SpaceX for refugee discrimination
Ranking
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- A CIA-backed 1953 coup in Iran haunts the country with people still trying to make sense of it
- Lawsuit over deadly seaplane crash in Washington state targets aircraft operator and manufacturer
- North West Recreates Kanye West’s Classic Polo Look During Tokyo Trip With Mom Kim Kardashian
- Average rate on 30
- Xi's unexplained absence from key BRICS speech triggers speculation
- Alex Murdaugh friend pleads guilty to helping steal from dead maid’s family
- Lawsuit over deadly seaplane crash in Washington state targets aircraft operator and manufacturer
Recommendation
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
Australian, US, Filipino militaries practice retaking an island in a drill along the South China Sea
Good Luck Charlie Star Mia Talerico Starting High School Will Make You Feel Old AF
Heavy rains cause street flooding in the Detroit area, preventing access to Detroit airport terminal
Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor
Climate change made it in the GOP debate. Some young Republicans say that's a win
United Airlines to pay $30 million after quadriplegic passenger ends up in a coma
Devastating losses: Economic toll from fires in Maui at least $4B, according to Moody's