British family’s nine-hour terror hide from Hamas killers with their 10-day-old baby: Couple hides in smoke-filled safe room as gunmen set fire to their home and slaughtered their dog
A British family hid in a smoke-filled vault with their newborn baby for nine hours as Hamas torched their home and demolished their village, it has been reported.
Aimee and Uriel Labban, UK-Israeli citizens, were sleeping with their ten-day-old son Kai in their Nirwin home near the Gaza Strip when they were woken up by rocket fire at 06:00 on Saturday.
Hamas killers killed their dog, set fire to their car and forced the family to flee to the safe room where they had to hold their baby against the window for fresh air because of the smoke, the family said.
The parents, both in their 30s, hid in the small room with Kai’s grandmother Deborah Mintz, originally from Romford, fearing they would be killed if they stepped outside.
They were finally freed just before 15:00 local time when Israeli Defense Forces arrived and helped them to a nearby bomb shelter.
Pictures show the traumatized family in the aftermath of the attack, with Ms Labban holding an oxygen mask to her face as she clutches baby Kai.
Aimee and Uriel Labban (pictured) reportedly hid in a safe room with their newborn baby Kai for nine hours while Hamas set fire to their home and demolished their village.
The family was finally freed just before 15:00 local time when Israeli Defense Forces arrived and helped them to a nearby bomb shelter.
Hamas terrorists killed the couple’s dog, set fire to their car and forced the family to flee to the safe room
Another image shows the couple looking at each other and smiling during happier times – apparently on their wedding day.
Russell Langer, a policy researcher related to the family, tells The Telegraph he learned of their fate when he got a text saying: ‘We’re stuck. They came in and burned our house.’
Mr Langer said he stayed in touch with the family by text to find out how close the terrorists were to them and the death of the family’s beloved dog, Mickey.
‘They ran straight to the safe room. They can literally hear the terrorists. (The) room was filled with smoke, so they basically lifted the baby up to the window to get fresh air,’ Mr Langer told the paper.
The family was able to wait out the terrorists and were eventually rescued by the IDF, who helped the family and neighbors to a shelter.
Langer said: ‘Baby Kai seems to be okay but (he is) a bit covered in soot. The house burned down, and so did their cars.’
It comes as a missing Briton and his German girlfriend are believed dead by their heartbroken families after disappearing during the Hamas massacre – as friends say they have been told she is dead.
At one point, the couple had to hold baby Kai against the window for air to protect him from the fumes
A disturbing image, shared in pixelated form on the Israeli government’s official Twitter page, shows scores of victims placed in body bags under a tent at a festival site in Israel
British photographer Danny Darlington, who lived in Berlin, and Carolin Bohl have not been heard from since they went into hiding in a bunker in Nir Or, a kibbutz in southern Israel, according to Ms Bohl’s brother-in-law Sam Pasquesi.
Mr Pasquesi said his family learned late Sunday from a man who works at the kibbutz that the bodies of the two had been identified.
Heartbreaking photos on Instagram show the pair laughing together shortly before they disappeared during the deadly attack on Israel.
Several Israeli news outlets, citing rescue service officials, said at least 700 people have now died in the country, with attacks continuing into Sunday and Monday.
Ms Bohl’s devastated sister posted on Instagram and claimed the family heard the news of the couple’s death from a friend ‘on the ground’ in Israel.