The fifth Canadian victim of the Hamas-Israel war, a 21-year-old man, died after being shot by a Hamas soldier and throwing himself on a grenade to save his girlfriend, according to his mother.
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The man who lost his life is called Netta Epstein, his mother Ayelet Shachar-Epstein revealed to the media Global News on Sunday.
A fifth Canadian-Israeli was murdered #Hamas.
Netta Epstein, 21, was hiding with his girlfriend in the safe room of his home when terrorists broke in.
The terrorists shot Netta and threw a grenade into the room. He jumped on the grenade, smothered it with his body and saved his… pic.twitter.com/FqO2ZxlEvJ
– CIJA (@CIJAinfo) October 15, 2023
She says her boy and his girlfriend were hiding in a room in their apartment in the Kfar Azza kibbutz when Hamas gunmen entered there on October 7.
They are said to have shot Mr Epstein before throwing an explosive at the couple.
The 21-year-old then threw himself on the grenade and his companion Irene Shavit survived the attack.
“It’s very important to me that the world knows what we’ve been through,” Ms. Shachar-Epstein said in an interview with Global News.
Netta Epstein was born in Israel, where he lived, but had Canadian citizenship through his grandmother, who was born in Montreal, and his mother, who was also Canadian.
Ms. Shachar-Epstein also survived the attack by hiding in another residence on Kibbutz Kfar Azza.
The mother stayed in touch with her son through the WhatsApp application until he was killed.
His last message to his mother said: “We still hear them,” referring to the entry of Hamas gunmen into their home.
About 70 people were killed in this kibbutz at the southern end of the Gaza Strip on October 7th.