The heartbroken family of a 13-year-old British girl murdered when Hamas terrorists launched their barbaric attack in Israel paid tribute to the teenager who was “full of adventure and mischief”.
Yahel Sharabi, 13, disappeared after terrorists attacked Kibbutz Be’eri and killed her British mother Lianne, who was born in Bristol.
This morning her relatives confirmed that “beautiful Yahel” was also killed in the attack. Her older sister Noiya Sharabi, 16, and her Israeli father Eli Sharabi remain missing, while her uncle Yossi, 53, was kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
The grieving family said in a statement to the BBC: “Beautiful Yahel.” A bundle of irrepressible energy and joy, with a cheekiness that made you smile and a sharp mind.
“Full of adventure and mischief, we will miss her forever, but are grateful for the light she brought into our lives in the all too short time she was with us.”
The family are now urging Rishi Sunak to visit the war-torn country, telling Web: “We demand that the Prime Minister of England come to Israel and demand the release of all Hamas hostages.”
Newly released photos of the cheeky young teenager show her beaming in climbing gear, while another shows her standing on the edge of the pool in scuba gear.
As the war between Israel and Hamas enters its second week, dozens of Israelis remain missing, including some who are also British citizens.
Among the missing is 21-year-old Mia Schem, an Israeli-French citizen who was kidnapped by Palestinian militants on October 7 along with other young Israelis from the Nova Festival near the Israeli border.
Today, Mia’s distraught mother, Karen Schem, has asked for her child to be returned home and is “begging the world to bring her.” [her] Baby back,” adding that she “just went to a party or a festival to have fun,” but “now she’s in Gaza.”
Meanwhile, dozens are reported to have been killed in Gaza this afternoon after Israel bombed the southern region after telling Palestinians to evacuate just days ago.
Back in the UK, Good Morning Britain presenter Richard Madeley sparked a major backlash after he asked British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran, whose family is trapped in Gaza, whether she knew about the Hamas terror attack before it happened .
Yahel Sharabi, 13, disappeared after the terrorists attacked Kibbutz Be’eri
Yahel’s heartbroken family paid tribute to the “beautiful” teenager this afternoon
Yahel (left) and her mother Lianne (center) were killed by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. Noiya (right) is still missing
Yahel, 13, (right) was murdered by Hamas terrorists, her family has confirmed, while her older sister Noiya, 16, (left) is still missing
Yahel, 13, disappeared after terrorists attacked Kibbutz Be’eri and killed her British-born mother Lianne. Her family have confirmed she was murdered, while her 16-year-old sister Noiya (right) is still missing along with their father
Houses are destroyed after clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces in Be’eri, Israel, on October 14
Israeli soldiers patrol the area as signs of clashes between Israeli and Palestinian forces are seen in Be’eri on October 14
Yahel and her sister had not been heard from since black-clad gunmen with assault rifles and hand grenades went door-to-door in their small kibbutz, searching for Israeli families they planned to slaughter or kidnap in their brutal Oct. 7 attack.
The family was in the safe room of their home in the kibbutz district of Kerem – ‘Grapevine’ – when the terrorists broke in, relatives told Web today.
The girl’s relatives, who live in the United Kingdom, said the family visited at least once a year and spoke of “joy continuing.” [the girl’s] faces as they tore open presents.
Yahel’s death came as the family was still reeling from her mother’s murder. Of Lianne, who moved to Israel at the age of 19 as a kibbutz volunteer, the family added: “She has led a beautiful life and will be sorely missed by the heartbroken family and friends she leaves behind.”
Last night Yahel and Noiya’s heartbroken uncle told Web they had not eaten or slept since reporting the girls missing and were determined to do everything they could to get them back to safety.
The girls’ uncles, Raz Matalon and Sharon Sharabi, said they received a series of panicked messages from Lianne on October 7, telling them she had heard gunshots outside their home.
They told Web: “She wrote that she heard gunshots outside her house.” That people were screaming and shouting in Arabic. And people are running around everywhere.
“So they stayed in the safe room until they heard that the terrorists had entered the house and tried to open the door.”
At that moment, all communication between Lianne and her family stopped and her family waited in vain for news of their loved ones.
The uncles said that it was only three days later that Israeli soldiers were able to enter Eli and Lianne’s home, where they saw bullets lodged in the walls of the bomb shelter and in the children’s room.
“There were too big blood stains on the floor,” said Matalon and Sharabi. “They saw the dog lying dead.”
The family has now confirmed that 13-year-old Yahel and her mother Lianne were murdered by the terrorists.
In a tribute, family members said Lianne was a “beloved daughter, sister, mother, aunt and friend who enriched the lives of all who were fortunate enough to have known and loved her.”
“She had a beautiful life and will be sorely missed by the heartbroken family and friends she leaves behind.”
Noiya (far right) and her father Eli (center) are still missing, while her mother (left) was killed by the terrorists
Israeli soldiers cordoned off an area in Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border on October 15 following the Hamas attack
Homes are destroyed after Hamas terrorists set fire to houses in Be’eri, Israel, last week
A man checks the interior of a house that was damaged Oct. 14 in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists on Kibbutz Be’eri
A soldier inspects the rubble, including shattered furniture and bullet-riddled walls
Israeli soldiers walk past a house destroyed in the attack by Hamas terrorists
The family fears that Noiya and her father Eli were taken as hostages to Gaza, where Hamas terrorists are using the people they capture as “human shields” to fend off Israeli forces.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed yesterday that six Britons were killed and another ten were missing in last week’s attacks.
Last week, a chilling video emerged showing the moment Hamas terrorists ran into homes in Kibbutz Be’eri and unleashed a hail of bullets on the frightened families there.
What had been a quiet morning when many of the 1,000 families – including Yahel, Noiya and their parents – had slept or eaten breakfast, turned into a nightmare.
In the video, the gunmen can be heard shouting orders to each other as they run from house to house, the sickening sound of gunfire filling the morning air.
Four armed men can be seen approaching a single-family home and then shooting into the windows. One of the terrorists can be seen kicking in the door while five shots can be heard in quick succession in the background.
The video cuts out before the terrorists manage to break down the door, but in this kibbutz they ruthlessly shot screaming families begging for their lives. Israeli soldiers later found the bodies of 108 Israeli civilians lying in their homes riddled with bullet holes.
A chilling video has emerged of the moment Hamas terrorists stormed into houses on the kibbutz and fired a hail of bullets at the frightened families there
Israeli soldiers carry the body of a Hamas terrorist at Kibbutz Be’eri on Wednesday
A house is completely destroyed after it was burned down by Hamas terrorists during the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri
Buildings and vehicles are destroyed after Hamas terrorists launched their attack on Be’eri
Israeli Major General Itai Veruv recounted how Hamas terrorists threw a hand grenade at 15 girls and teenagers who were desperately trying to hide from them. Everyone was found dead in this single room.
Hamas gunmen also set fire to several houses here in a nefarious attempt to drive away families so they could shoot them as soon as they reached their gardens.
Horrifying photos too graphic to publish showed a woman lying face down in bed in a pool of blood with six gaping holes in her mottled, rotting skin.
Beside her, a man with dark hair slipped awkwardly into a gap between the bed and the wall. His black clothes, which looked like pajamas, were still slick with his blood, which pooled in a dark red mass on the floor below him.
You could see his body decomposing – his face was blackened and his arms were covered in boils. Pieces of flesh were missing from his right arm and hand.
Outside, several cars have been flattened, while the bodies of people in everyday clothing lie in awkward positions.
One survivor, Haim Jelin, told local media that Hamas fighters “walked around Be’eri as if they owned the place.”
He added: “They shot indiscriminately, kidnapped whoever they could, burned down people’s houses so that they would have to escape through the window where the terrorists were waiting.”
A woman named Miri Gad Mesika told local media that she and her husband suffocated from thick smoke and gas fumes as they tried to hide.
“We soaked towels with water and covered our faces while my husband Eli held the shelter door shut as tightly as he could while the terrorists tried to break in,” she said.
“Just before jumping from the second floor, we assessed the fire situation, looked for the terrorists and decided to jump.”
“We fled to our neighbors across the street and watched our house go up in flames before it burned down completely. ‘I have no idea how we survived.’
Israeli Major General Itai Veruv, who arrived in Be’eri on Saturday to join the fighting there, said as he walked past a house in the now-blackened kibbutz: “Children in the same room and someone came and killed them all.” Fifteen girls and teenagers, they put them in the same room, threw a hand grenade in there and it was over.”
‘This is a massacre.’ It’s a pogrom.’
Be’eri, a settlement of just over 1,000 people, is one of more than 20 towns and villages attacked by Hamas terrorists early Saturday.
Before the attack, Be’eri – which was founded by Zionist settlers two years before the country’s founding – was known for its industriousness and, among other things, had a large printing press that produced Israeli driver’s licenses.
Now it has become a terrible symbol of the war with Hamas, which authorities say has so far left about 1,300 dead in Israel and about 2,778 people in Gaza.
Mr Sunak said those killed and missing in the Hamas attack on Israel came from more than 30 countries as well as Israel. He called the attack “an existential blow to the idea of Israel as a safe home for the Jewish people.”
He said Britain “absolutely supports Israel’s right to defend itself, act against Hamas, take back the hostages, deter further incursions and strengthen its security in the long term – in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
He added that the UK had committed £10 million to ease the “acute humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and called on Israel and Egypt to open a border crossing to let in aid.
Meanwhile, another video of the attack on the Be’eri kibbutz, where Yahel lived with her family, shows the moment the murderous gunmen shot and killed an Israeli family’s dog before storming their home, looting their refrigerator and it set on fire.
The clip, captured by the GoPro camera on a Hamas fighter’s helmet, showed the dog leaping out of the house towards the attackers and being immediately mowed down with multiple bullets.
Hamas terrorists immediately entered a home and ransacked the family’s belongings, drinking orange juice from their refrigerator and diving into the contents.
A militant then pulled a lighter from his pocket and carried it to the wall, igniting sparks from houseplants and hanging ornaments that quickly burst into flames before the heavily armed men left the room.
Another video of the attack shows the moment the murderous gunmen shot dead an Israeli family’s dog before storming their home, looting their refrigerator and setting their house on fire in a series of civilian massacres
One militant pulled a lighter from his pocket, held it against the wall, and lit house plants and hanging ornaments
The dog jumped out of the house towards the attackers and was immediately mowed down with several bullets
Another harrowing scene from the same kibbutz showed a second group of Hamas fighters gaining entry into the fenced compound by slaughtering civilians at close range while they sat in a car.
Footage of the brutal attack was captured by cameras positioned at various locations overlooking the entrance to the kibbutz, which is protected by a yellow metal gate.
Footage from CCTV cameras, time-stamped at 5:55 a.m. Saturday, shows two Hamas fighters armed with AK-47s wearing camouflaged military clothing, body armor and combat boots approaching the gate blocking a two-lane road.
First, the two fighters are seen trying to find a way through the gate, with one testing whether he can fit through the small gap below.
He soon changes his mind and instead breaks into a small guardhouse located on one side of the kibbutz entrance and forces his way in with his rifle.
Seconds after climbing through a window, the other fighter spots the approaching car. He hides behind a tree while the first soldier hides in the guardhouse and sets an ambush for the approaching vehicle.
At 5:57 a.m., barely two minutes after the two militants were first seen inspecting the entrance to the kibbutz, the driver and passenger are seen pulling up to the gate.
Neither of them seems to notice that the two armed men are lying in wait, and the electronically controlled gate begins to open.
When the driver briefly leans out of the window, apparently to speak to whoever is in the guardhouse, the armed militant can be seen running out from behind the tree.
Israeli rescuers shared a shocking image of a blood-soaked kindergarten in Be’eri
A child’s room is charred after Hamas set fire to the building
As soon as he is just a few meters away from the car, he mercilessly opens fire at close range through the passenger window and sprays the two Israelis with several shots.
From the other side, the Hamas fighter in the guardhouse also opened fire and hit the driver several times, who was hit by the bullets.
As the militants run through the now-open gate, the footage shows the car rolling gently further into the kibbutz, which has now been breached.
The victims in the car remain motionless and covered in blood. Both are believed to have been killed in the attack, likely one of the first casualties on Saturday as more than 1,000 Hamas gunmen poured across the border from the Gaza Strip into Israel, where they indiscriminately shot civilians and took others hostage.
The Times of Israel reported that Hamas was in control of the Be’eri kibbutz for 17 hours.
Gen. Veruv, who had retired from the military until he was recalled on Saturday to lead forces fighting to regain control of attacked towns, said Hamas fighters had entrenched positions in the ruins of Be’eri captured and hid in small groups before surprising Israeli soldiers moving from house to house.
“Every time we thought we had cleared the area and everything was quiet, all of a sudden another 12 or another 20 would come out,” he said.