A mother who was slaughtered by terrorists in Israel along with her husband and three children sent a final WhatsApp message to her Australian friends to say her family was safe.
Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov texted her Sydney friends, Yishai and Mor Lacob, from the concrete bunker of her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel around 2:45 p.m. on Saturday.
The message read: “Hello guys, we arrived at the emergency shelter at our house, we are all fine.”
An hour later, she stopped responding to calls and text messages.
The Lacobs panicked and tried to contact everyone they knew in the village to find out what was going on, before receiving the heartbreaking news that the Tov’s safe room had been ransacked by militants.
Tamar, her husband Johnny, their six-year-old daughters Shachar and Arbel and their two-year-old son Omer were murdered by Hamas-affiliated terrorists.
Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov with her husband Johnny and their six-year-old daughters Shachar and Arbel and their two-year-old son Omer. They were murdered on Saturday
A mock-up of the last WhatsApp message Tamar Kedem-Siman Tov sent to her friends in Sydney
“Our hearts are broken,” Yishai wrote on Facebook on Monday.
“An entire family was killed by evil murderers who shot the children and parents just because they were Jews.”
“And that’s just one of many stories. ‘It’s unbearable.’
Nir Oz is a farming village with around 400 inhabitants and is located 3 km from Gaza.
Despite its proximity to a conflict zone, Mor was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as a peaceful place to live and raise a family.
“They didn’t think something like this could happen,” she said.
Tamar was a social activist who campaigned to become head of the Eshkol Regional Council in Israel’s Southern District.
“She was such a special woman,” Mor told the publication.
“She always cared about poor people and always made sure that less fortunate people had the same opportunities.”
The family hid in a concrete bunker at their home in southern Israel before it was breached. Tamar (left) uploaded this photo four days ago
Friends flooded Facebook with tributes to the young family (pictured)
“She was a living example of these values.”
Just four days ago, the mother of three posted photos of her local council campaign on Facebook.
“Half-week recap post because not even Facebook can keep up with me on this holiday,” she wrote in a post translated from Hebrew into English on Thursday.
“The area speaks for itself – we want a thoughtful community leader who sees the residents – young to old.”
Its aim was to improve health, employment and safety across the region.
Her posts were flooded with messages of support on Thursday.
On Tuesday they were overwhelmed with tributes.
“My heart is torn,” one person wrote.
Another said: “What a tragedy… I can’t believe it’s four days later.”
Pictured: Tamar and her husband Johnny, who were living in southern Israel when their village was attacked
The attacks began around 6:30 a.m. Israel time on Saturday, when thousands of Hamas rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel and as far away as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
At the same time, hundreds of Palestinian militants paraglided across the heavily guarded border while others stormed cities by boat or blasted holes in the Gaza-Israel barrier.
They then went door-to-door shooting innocent civilians and soldiers before kidnapping more than 100 Israelis and taking them to Gaza.
In response, the Israeli army said Monday that it had hit more than 500 targets in the Gaza Strip in nightly retaliatory strikes in the impoverished and blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of 2.3 million people.
Officials there reported at least 413 Palestinian deaths.
In Australia, pro-Palestinian demonstrators were allowed to chant “Gas the Jews” and burn the Star of David outside the Sydney Opera House on Monday evening.
Counter-protesters were arrested for attempting to raise the Israeli flag at the protest site.
Police are now under fire for allowing the protest – while urging Jewish Australians to “stay at home” for their own safety.
The rally, organized by Palestine Action Group Sydney, saw scores of pro-Palestinian activists gather at City Hall in Sydney’s CBD before marching to the Opera House.
There were chaotic scenes as the demonstration was hijacked by radical Muslims – some wearing black masks – who threw flaming flares at police and shouted “F*** Israel” and “F*** Israel” under the steps of the iconic harborside venue. the Jews” shouted.
Pictured: Chaotic scenes at the Sydney Opera House as a demonstration captured pro-Palestinian protesters – some wearing black masks – chanting “F*** Israel” and “F*** the Jews”.
At one point there were even shouts: “Gas the Jews.”
A large crowd tried to set fire to an Israeli flag with fireworks before trampling on it and tearing it to pieces.
Chants of “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic) and “Death to the Jews” rang out as some members of the crowd streamed toward the police barricade, waving torn pieces of the Israeli flag – even though rally organizers had called for people to respect demonstrators the police.
More than 100 police officers formed a steel ring along the steps of the opera house and did not intervene when they were pelted with flares and other projectiles.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said he “regrets” the rally and described it as “contrary to the principles of our multicultural community”.
“We lit up the opera house to support innocent people whose lives were butchered or whose loved ones were kidnapped,” Mr. Minns told Sunrise.
“The vast majority of people I have spoken to in the last 48 hours expected horror at the actions of Hamas and also at the demonstrations that have taken place in Sydney over the last 48 hours.”
Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on pro-Palestinian protesters to call off the rally.
Israeli supporters kept their distance and watched the performance from across Circular Quay