Nine people from five families were killed in the Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh: a 16-year-old boy, a mother and daughter, a mother and son, a father of four and three teenage siblings. One by one, the victims were laid to rest as sirens sounded following additional launches from Iran. These are their stories.
Yaakov, Avigail and Sarah Bitton
Three siblings were buried at the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem: Yaakov, 16, Avigail, 15, and Sarah, 13. The Bitton children were killed when an Iranian missile struck Beit Shemesh as they were running to a shelter. Their parents, Yitzhak and Tamar, and their younger sister Rachel survived after remaining at home.
Their father, Yitzhak, eulogized them: “Throughout the generations, the people of Israel have suffered. What sustained us was faith. I ask the holy forefathers and foremothers to turn to the Holy One and say, ‘The time for our redemption has come.’ Abraham bound Isaac, and I bound Yaakov, Avigail and Sarah. On this day, God wanted to take these pure souls.”
He described the moment of the blast. “We were at home and heard a tremendous explosion. By miracle, we are alive. I knew the children were in the shelter. Yaakov had been studying and ran there with his two sisters. I looked out the window and saw smoke rising. Everything was in ruins, and I understood where this was heading.”
He called for unity in Israeli society. “We must change our speech and the way we talk to one another. We must stop baseless hatred. It filters down to the youth. Our mission is to increase love.”
Their grandmother, Lillian, said: “I did not lead them to the wedding canopy. I am leading them to the cemetery. These were pure children who only did good.”
Ronit and Sarah Elimelech
Ronit Elimelech, who recently completed a volunteer course with United Hatzalah at her son Itamar’s request, was buried alongside her mother, Sarah Elimelech.
Etti, Sarah’s daughter and Ronit’s sister, said: “In one moment, we lost both of you. Mom was a powerful woman who moved mountains and held everyone together in difficult times. Ronit, your children survived. Every smile of theirs is proof you lived among them. I promise they will not be alone.”
Ronit’s daughter Orian said her mother was “the bravest, strongest and most inspiring woman I ever knew.” Sarah’s son Tomer added: “You taught me to love every person and to give to others. My heart is torn.”
Oren Katz
Oren Katz, a father of four, was laid to rest at 11 a.m. His widow, Samadi, said: “Even when you were under pressure, you told us to give. You went upstairs to close the shelter and it cost you your life. I cannot comprehend it.”
His son Yosef said his father would leave work early to ensure the family had food. “Yesterday you came home so we would have lunch. We survived and you did not. Before we went to sleep, Neve said he wanted to ‘sleep with Dad in the air.’ I hope your murder was not in vain. As long as these monsters exist, everyone’s life is in danger.”
Yosef and Bruria Cohen
Penina Cohen lay wounded at Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital when she told President Isaac Herzog she had lost her husband, Yosef Cohen, and her mother-in-law, Bruria Cohen. The missile struck a synagogue and the shelter beneath it in Beit Shemesh. She and her children survived.
“We heard the alert and ran to the shelter,” she told Ynet. “About 15 people were there. Suddenly, everything around me went black. I shouted ‘Shema Yisrael.’ When I opened my eyes, my son was under me bleeding. I saw the ceiling about to collapse, so I bent over him to protect him. Yesterday was his 13th birthday. Today he was meant to celebrate his bar mitzvah. Instead, he is burying his father.”
Escorted from the hospital after undergoing surgery overnight, she attended the funeral. “We were supposed to celebrate Noam’s bar mitzvah,” she said. “Instead, he is burying his father. Thank you for 14 years together.”
Gavriel Baruch Revach
Gavriel Baruch Revach was 16 when he was killed in the strike. He belonged to the Malka family, one of the city’s longstanding families. Tragedy has struck the family before. In 1976, a truck lost its brakes and crashed into the family home, killing the driver and three relatives. In March 1997, a relative, Adi, was murdered in the Naharayim terror attack, when a Jordanian soldier opened fire on Israeli schoolgirls.
Gavriel’s homeroom teacher described him as a warm and lively teenager with a sharp sense of humor. “He was devoted to Torah study, to Judaism, to his family and friends. A hardworking young man always ready to help, loved by everyone around him,” she said.
Noa Shine, principal of his high school, called his death a severe blow to the family and the community. “We share in the family’s grief and send them strength in this terrible tragedy,” she said.