Netanya:

When Hamas militants attacked her village in southern Israel on October 7, Sabine Taasa watched her husband die trying to save their two children before learning that her older son Killed elsewhere.
Despite the trauma, she was determined to let the world know.

“I will tell my story and I want everyone to know what happened,” the 48-year-old French Israeli told AFP in an interview before traveling to Paris to attend a memorial service for the victims of Hamas attacks on France. thing.”

Tassa immigrated to Israel in 1992 and ten years later settled with her husband, Gil, in the village of Netif Hassala, on the northern border of the Gaza Strip.

At dawn on October 7, Hamas militants attacked the village and began massacring the residents.

As they entered Tassa’s home, her firefighter husband grabbed a handgun and fought back. The militants threw a grenade at him and he jumped on it to protect his children.

“My baby’s eyes were half sticking out of their sockets, both eyes were covered in blood, and 12-year-old Colen told me my dad was dead,” Tassa said.

She tried to call for help, but to no avail. “My children were bleeding to death and no one answered me. Where are the troops? Where are the police?” she continued.

Tassa decided to film her injured child and send the video to all her contacts. AFP received a copy of the video.

The video shows two children lying on a bed, covered in blood and wounds, while their mother cries for help.

Tassa eventually evacuated in an armored vehicle with her three children, including her youngest, eight-year-old Shay.

She only had time to hold her husband’s body for a moment before leaving.

‘Scarred for life’

Her eldest child, Or, 17, set out early in the morning with friends for Zikim beach, a few kilometers (miles) from Netiv Haasara.

“I called him around 6:30 in the morning and he told me he was staying at a shelter with friends,” she said, holding back tears.

“Ten minutes later, my son was dead,” she said. “They (Hamas) came in from the beach and shot everyone.”

That morning, 19 people died on Zikim beach.

That night, Tasa learned of her son’s fate while sitting at the bedside of the two injured children. It took another two weeks before she was able to bury him because identifying his body took time.

According to AFP statistics based on official Israeli statistics, the Hamas attack was the largest attack in Israel since its founding 75 years ago, killing about 1,160 people, most of them civilians.

In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive vowing to eliminate Hamas, killing at least 27,365 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-dominated region.

Tasa now lives temporarily in Netanya, central Israel, and despite her grief, she continues to fight.

“I decided to fight. First, for my three sons. Second, for me. Third, for the State of Israel. Fourth, (so) everyone would know the truth.

“I will tell people that my husband jumped on a grenade to save his children, and my son lost his sight and was scarred for life, not to mention the (psychological) trauma,” she said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)