A young Montrealer celebrating the end of his vacation in Israel died a hero as he tried to protect people from heavily armed men during Hamas surprise attacks at a huge festival in the middle of the desert on Saturday.
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“We had a video conversation with him until the last second. “I will always appreciate that I was able to talk to him in his last moments, even if it is unimaginable,” Raquel Ohnona confided before breaking down in tears in her living room.
“We almost witnessed the bloodbath live,” added her husband Alain Look, his voice breaking.
Her son Alexandre Look is one of the hundreds of victims of the Nova Festival. The night’s party ended in tragedy when thousands of Hamas fighters crossed the border at dawn on Saturday morning and launched their offensive against Israel on motorcycles, vans, speedboats and paramotors.
The young entrepreneur called his parents around 11:30 p.m. – Quebec time – on Friday as the music festival in this remote region in the south of the country, just a few kilometers from the Gaza border, was targeted by terrorists.
Alain Look and Raquel Ohnona, Alexandre Look’s parents. Photo Erika Aubin
The 33-year-old Montrealer had been on vacation in Israel for two months. He was supposed to return last week, but decided to extend his stay to celebrate the end of the Jewish holidays, his parents explain.
“When I answered the phone, he said to me: ‘Mom, we are in the middle of a terrorist attack,'” Ms. Ohnona, who greeted Le Journal at the family home in the Notre neighborhood, recalled with difficulty. -Lady- of grace. As we passed by, several childhood friends came to offer their condolences to the grieving family.
Hidden in a shelter
Alexandre Look managed to take refuge with around thirty people in a bunker that protected him from rocket fire. But in addition to the shooting from the air, armed men invaded the festival in the middle of the desert and gave it no chance.
Alexandre Look Photo from Alain Looks Facebook
“He saw a lot of white trucks with armed people. When he was at the animal shelter, he said to me: ‘They’re coming back, there are several of them,'” the mother said.
Then Ms. Ohnona and her husband heard shots on the line, then there was complete silence.
“I knew they would kill him,” Ms. Ohnona whispered, closing her eyes.
From Montreal yesterday, the parents managed to telephone two young girls who were at the festival with Alexandre. They confirmed the worst to him: their son died in the attack.
“As if it wasn’t enough to shoot all the innocent young people, they threw a grenade into the bunker. His body was torn to pieces,” raged Raquel Ohnona.
Alexandre Look and his father Alain. Photo from Alain Looks Facebook
Death as a hero
She says that her son died a hero because he threw himself into the small door of the shelter in front of the shooters to protect the two girls.
“He even fought with a terrorist. That was Alex, he had a larger than life personality. “A generous man with a big heart,” she continued.
The two parents from Montreal wanted to tell their son’s story to show the consequences of these Hamas attacks in Israel: “It’s innocent people who pay the price.” These are families that are being torn apart. The young people were at an open-air concert. The beauty of youth, they were just dancing and enjoying life. »
Alexandre Look, who has a younger sister, had lived in Mexico for several years, where he had beauty clinics.
In total, more than 260 festival-goers were killed in this attack, while others were taken hostage by Hamas attackers.