An Israeli grandmother was murdered by Hamas terrorists with her killers posting it on her own Facebook account, her family has said.
Describing her as “pure and good”, the unnamed woman’s granddaughter Mor Bayder claimed the horrifying videos were shared publicly on social media, reportedly showing the elderly woman being slaughtered in her own home.
“A terrorist came home to her, killed her, took her phone, filmed the horror and published it on her Facebook wall,” Ms Bayder said. “This is how we found out.”
She was killed inside her own home shortly after telling her family that she was safe— (Facebook )
When the incursion by Hamas into Israel began on Saturday morning, the grandmother’s family spoke to her on the phone and she reassured them she was in a protected space and was “okay”.
A lifelong resident of the Nir Oz Kibbutz, near the Gaza border, she was accustomed to the sounds of sirens and told her family that she had not received any special instructions since the first rockets were launched.
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However, her other granddaughter Adi Bayder said that just a short while later they became aware of the videos and pictures posted on her Facebook page.
“I’m used to my grandmother answering me straight, I called her millions of calls, she didn’t answer and I knew straight away,” she wrote in a tribute on social media. “I’m broken and I miss her so much.
“My grandma was the best woman I know, she was the anchor of my family, she saved me and my whole family, she had one big heart only dealing with the good in life, she never did anyone wrong for the world. I never thought I would reach such a reality at all.”
Israeli authorities have said that at least 1,00 people have been killed since Saturday, while thousands more have been injured.
Her other granddaughter Adi Bayder described her as 'the best woman’— (Facebook )
Around 100 people were taken hostage by Hamas, with distressing footage on social media showing a young woman being carried away on the back of a motorcycle while screaming for help.
At the site of a music festival just three miles from the border of Gaza, emergency services recovered the bodies of 260 partygoers, who were killed when Palestinian gunmen opened fire and blocked escaping cars.
In retaliation, Israel has launched strikes from the air and sea with around 700 killed in Gaza and the West Bank.
In a televised address on Monday, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive had “only started” and said: “What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
The country has formally declared war on Hamas and has called up 300,000 reservists for duty, while their defence minister announced a “complete siege” of the Gaza Strip.
Israel has ordered a ‘complete siege’ of Gaza in retaliation— (AFP via Getty Images)
While ordering the blockade of electricity, fuel, water and fuel, Yoav Gallant said: “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”
Abu Ubaida, a spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas, said that they would kill an Israeli civilian captive in return for any new Israeli bombing of civilian homes “without prior warning”.
In an audio statement, he said: “We have decided to put an end to this and as of now, and we declare that any targeting of our people in their homes without prior warning will be regrettably faced with the execution of one of the hostages of civilians we are holding.”
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, condemned the Hamas attacks as “acts of terror” and said he was “deeply distressed” by the Israeli government’s plan for a “complete siege”.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities. Now it will only deteriorate exponentially,” he said.
