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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emma Graham-Harrison and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem

‘My parents sacrificed their lives for me’: agony of 16-year-old survivor of Hamas attack

Shachar and Shlomi Matias
Shachar and Shlomi Matias, who died in the Hamas attack on Holit kibbutz. Shachar lay on top of their son Rotem to protect him from the gunmen Photograph: No Credit

“Mum and Dad are dead. Sorry. Call help,” Rotem messaged his family at 8.01 last Saturday morning. He lay under a quilt soaked in his mother’s blood as he typed.

Shachar Matias had used her body as a shield, a last great act of love towards her 16-year-old son, when Hamas gunmen broke into their home in Holit kibbutz.

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