Parents’ anguish as they say final farewell to Brit, 30, who was murdered by Hamas during Nova Festival massacre in Israel
The distraught parents of a Briton killed by Hamas during a music festival in Israel on Saturday have bid him a final farewell.
Dor Shafir and his fiancee Savion Hen Kiper, both 30, were attending the Nova music festival near Re’im, a kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza border when Hamas terrorists climbed over the fence using paragliders.
They descended and began firing indiscriminately into the crowd, forcing hundreds of bystanders to scatter in terror. About 270 people were killed.
Dori’s parents – father Itzik and mother Miriam – attended their son’s funeral on Wednesday, supported by other family members who tried to comfort them.
They were photographed sobbing uncontrollably as Dor’s body was carried through a cemetery in Modiin Maccabim in a tragic scene that will be all too common as people in Israel bury the more than 1,300 people killed by Hamas gunmen .
The distraught parents of a Briton killed by Hamas during a music festival in Israel on Saturday have bid him a final farewell. Pictured: Itzik and Miriam Shafir, seen sitting in the background, mourn during their son’s funeral at the cemetery in Modiin Maccabim
Dor Shafir and his fiance Savion Hen Kiper, both 30, were attending the Nova music festival near Re’im, a kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza border, when Hamas terrorists climbed over the fence using paragliders. Pictured: Dori’s parents on Wednesday
Dor was last heard from on Saturday morning as the attack unfolded.
Around 7am he texted his family to say that he and Savion had managed to escape the initial carnage and found shelter.
But the Shafir family told Good Morning Britain that Savion was later found dead, killed by terrorists who later took hostages and fled back to Gaza.
Speaking to GMB on Monday, Miriam said at the time that Dor was missing and that she was ‘praying’ that he would be found alive.
However, he was also later confirmed dead, with Miriam on Wednesday posting on Facebook in Hebrew, translated into English, to say her son had been killed. “The Shafir family announces with great pain the murder of their son Dor”, she wrote.
Speaking on Monday, before learning her son’s fate, Miriam said: ‘We know from a person who saw them at the party that when they heard the first rockets, my son and his girlfriend were the first to run. to their car and left.
“Within a few minutes, everyone ran away. They ran into the woods or got into their cars and started driving everywhere. Some of them were met by Hamas terrorists.
“Some of the people were shot, some were taken hostage.
“There were hundreds, hundreds of young people killed. We don’t even know who they are and where they are.’
Ms Shafir, whose parents are from Reading and Dublin, had called on the UK government to get involved in efforts to trace British citizens to Israel.
She had added: “We are citizens, they must help so that this war crime does not continue.” There are hundreds of innocent people, women, children, young people, who are hostages in Gaza.’
Following the news of his death, friends posted tributes to Dor on social media.
“When someone dies, the instinct is to exaggerate their good qualities and overlook their bad,” wrote Nate Nelson.
“But I really can’t remember a single time when Dor Shafir was anything but kind, patient, fun, deeply thoughtful, and without any judgment of anyone.”
Another, called Anat Eylam, described Dor and his fiancee as “a young couple with a whole life ahead of them”. She added: “Today, unfortunately, we learned that both were killed by the damned terrorists of Hamas.”
She said “they just wanted to dance and enjoy” the festival in peace.
The news about the death of Mr. Shafir, reported by recentlyit came after British authorities said on Wednesday that 17 British nationals were either dead or missing in Israel.
Miryam Shafir, 55, with her son, Dor Shafir, and his fiancee, Savion Hen Kiper, at a bowling alley
Dor Shafir (left) is pictured on a walk with his father, Itzik (right)
Festival students at the nature festival near Re’im, in southern Israel, near the Gaza border
Among them is Nathaniel Young, 20, who was fulfilling a childhood dream of serving in the Israeli army when he was killed in the unannounced Hamas attack. His funeral in Jerusalem was interrupted by air raid sirens and loud noises.
The former pupil at the JFS Jewish school in Kenton, north London, had been living at the home of lone soldier Bayit Shel Benji in Raanana, according to Jewish News.
Mr Young’s family said in a statement that he was ‘full of life and the life of the party’. They added: “He loved his family and friends and was loved by all. He loved music and was a talented DJ.
“Always willing to do anything for his loved ones – a wonderful uncle and brother. He was so happy and thriving in Israel. He loved the country.’
Another Briton killed by the terrorists is Glaswegian Bernard Cowen, 57, who lived in Israel with his wife and two children. He was identified on Sunday by family members as having been ‘killed in cold blood in his home’ by Hamas terrorists.
Jake Marlowe, 26, is also among those known to have died. He was initially reported missing but was confirmed dead by the Israeli embassy in London.
Mr. Marlowe was providing security at the Nova music festival.
His mother told the Jewish News on Sunday that the last message she received from her son was one that said he loved her.
She said: “He was doing security in this noise yesterday and he called me at 4.30 in the morning to say there were all these rockets flying overhead.”
Corporal Nathanel Young, 20, from London, was a soldier in the 13th Battalion who lived in Tel Aviv and was killed by Hamas.
Glasgow man Bernard Cohen (aka Cowan) was killed on Saturday in Israel by Hamas
“Then at around 5.30am he sent a message to say, ‘very bad signal, everything ok, I’ll keep you posted, I promise’, and that he loves me.”
Another British victim, photographer Dan Darlington, is also believed to be dead after a relative of his German girlfriend Carolin Bohl – also missing – was told by a man working at a kibbutz that the couple’s bodies had been identified.
The couple was last heard from hiding in a bunker in Nir Or, a kibbutz in southern Israel, according to Carolin Bohl’s brother-in-law, Sam Pasquesi.
Shocking pictures on Instagram show the couple laughing together shortly before they disappeared during the deadly attack in Israel.
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