Hamas gunmen killed Israeli grandmother and posted video of body on her own Facebook page
The family of an Israeli grandmother only found out she was dead when Hamas gunmen posted a video of her body on her own Facebook page.
One of Bracha Levinson’s grandchildren, on holiday in Japan at the time, clicked on the gory image first after she noticed a notification.
“I see the horrible video of, you know, just her lying on the floor with a pool of blood around her head and gunmen – terrorists holding their guns above her shouting in Arabic,” Hagar Shimoni said.
Bracha Levinson
The 22-year-old university student asked the family WhatsApp group if anyone knew what was going on – but there was widespread confusion on 7 October as a major terrorist attack gripped the country.
“Then I call my cousin and she picks up, she’s screaming, she’s crying, she’s saying: ‘Did you see how they murdered grandma?'”
Exactly four weeks after Hamas militants assaulted Israel from the land, sea and air – in an unprecedented pre-dawn raid that the Israeli authorities say left more than 1,400 dead and more than 230 kidnapped – families across the country are still reeling from the trauma.
In response, Israel launched a war against Hamas inside the Gaza Strip – with troops pushing in on the ground and multiple strikes from the air.
The Israeli military says its forces are striking Hamas targets, but health authorities in Hamas-controlled Gaza say thousands of civilians have been killed, many of them children, in a conflict that could trigger a regional war.
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Israeli airstrike hits ambulance convoy
As well as focusing on the fighting, Israeli authorities are also gathering evidence about what unfolded when Hamas struck against multiple targets, killing civilians and security personnel.
In the newest insight, the military shared with Sky News what it said was an intercepted phone conversation from the day of the attack – purportedly between a Hamas commander and a militant on the ground about what to do with the body of an Israeli soldier killed in the fighting.
Sky News has not been able to verify the content independently, but mobile phone footage has emerged that appears to show militants in Gaza abusing the body of a dead serviceman.
In the audio the voice of a Hamas “operative” can be heard telling his commander that a soldier has been killed.
The commander replies: “Bring him and hang him … hang him in al Alam Square [inside Gaza]”.
The operative then says: “OK. I told them this … They took him to the middle … I’m explaining to them.”
The commander replies: “We don’t want this dead one. Bring him and let the people play with him [the body]. Bring him and hang him in al Alam Square.”
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Bracha’s family also give testimony about the horror that engulfed the grandmother’s kibbutz in southern Israel, called Nir Oz.
Sitting with her mother in the family apartment in Tel Aviv, both of them dressed in black, Hagar said the loss of her grandmother had changed her.
“Since 7 October, I feel just the sadness walking with me and just deep heaviness that I have to carry along throughout my day,” she said.
Her mother Shay, Bracha’s daughter, said she was struggling to come to terms with what had happened.
“I was devastated. I, I was shocked. I, I couldn’t … comprehend the situation … it was too big to understand..
“It took me many days and weeks to go to the point that I understand she’s gone, she will not come back, and I need now to try to build my life without her.”
Bracha Levinson and her family
After shooting the grandmother, the Hamas gunmen burnt her house to the ground, Shay said.
“The terrorists just burnt everything with her inside – nothing left,” she said, before Hagar added: “No body to bury.”
Asked what her grandmother was like, Hagar said: “She was so full of love, hugging and kissing us all the time, just laughing with us.”
The family is also desperate for news about a close friend and neighbour of their mother’s called Adine Moshe, 72, who was kidnapped during the attack and her husband killed.
“We’re waiting for you here. We want you come back. Be strong. Stay strong. We’re really, really waiting for you. I hope she comes today. I really hope she comes today,” said Shay.
Her daughter said many residents were seized from the kibbutz.
“Nobody deserves to go through this,” Hagar said.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for Israel to take full military control of the Gaza Strip has been condemned, amid fears a reoccupation could put the lives of Palestinians and the remaining Israeli hostages at risk.
Asked in a Fox News interview on Thursday if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza”, the prime minister replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.”
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“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” he continued. “We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.”
Israel already controls around 75% of Gaza and has largely sealed its borders.
To take full control, it would need to launch ground operations in the remaining areas that have not been destroyed, where most of Gaza’s two million population have sought refuge.
Israel’s security cabinet, which would need to approve the military operations, began a meeting on Thursday evening, but for now no official announcement has been made.
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Netanyahu on Israel’s plans for Gaza
Plan will ‘put hostages and soldiers in danger’
The plan has been criticised by many, including families of hostages being held by Hamas and a top Israeli Defence Force (IDF) official.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said Mr Netanyahu promised her that he would pursue a deal to free the hostages.
She said in a post on X: “Someone who talks about a comprehensive deal doesn’t go and conquer the Strip and put hostages and soldiers in danger.
“Netanyahu and his partners are about to condemn [Matan] to death.”
Israel’s military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has warned against occupying Gaza, saying it would endanger the hostages and put further strain on the IDF, according to Israeli media reports.
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In an illustration of the kind of opposition Israel could face internationally if it purses the plan, a Jordanian official aid Arabs would “only support what Palestinians agree and decide on”.
“Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions,” the source said.
“Arabs will not be agreeing to Netanyahu’s policies nor clean his mess.”
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Israeli hostage families sail near Gaza
At least 42 more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, say hospitals
It comes after at least 42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals.
At least 13 of those people were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by desperate crowds and looters.
An Israeli soldier, standing next to an Israeli flag, looks out across Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Another two were killed on roads leading to sites run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.
The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday.
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The war in Gaza began when Hamas killed about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – in its attack on 7 October 2023 and abducted 251 others. They still hold approximately 50 of those hostages – with 20 believed to be alive – after most of the others were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
Vladimir Putin has played down the possibility of a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that while it is possible, certain conditions must be met.
The Russian president was responding to an American proposal of a trilateral meeting between him, the Ukrainian president and Donald Trump.
The idea was floated by Steve Witkoff, the US president’s envoy during talks with Mr Putin on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Mr Ushakov said the three-way option was “simply mentioned by the American representative during the meeting in the Kremlin”.
He added, however: “This option was not specifically discussed.”
On the prospect of meeting Mr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin said: “I have already said many times that I have nothing against it in general – it is possible.”
However, he distanced himself from any such meeting happening soon, adding: “But certain conditions must be created for this. Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”
Pic: AP
Mr Zelenskyy offered to speak to Vladimir Putin in May, challenging him to meet in Istanbul for talks on ending the war in Ukraine – an invitation the Russian leader declined.
While a trilateral meeting appears to be off the agenda, Mr Ushakov said an agreement had been reached for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet “in the coming days”.
After the US president touted a “very good prospect” of the leaders meeting for Ukraine ceasefire talks, Mr Ushakov said on Thursday that Russian and American officials had started working on the details.
“At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,” he said.
“We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues.”
Regarding a trilateral meeting, Mr Ushakov said: “We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive.”
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Will Putin agree to Trump’s condition to meet Zelenskyy?
It would be the first time the two leaders have met since Mr Trump returned to office, and follows a three-hour meeting between Mr Putin and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday.
Following the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it appeared that Russia was “more inclined to a ceasefire”.
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The Ukrainian president said he planned to speak on Thursday to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as contacts from France and Italy.
He said he planned to discuss a ceasefire, a leaders’ summit and long-term security, adding: “Ukraine has never wanted war and will work toward peace as productively as possible.”
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A poll from Gallup suggests 69% of Ukrainians support a negotiated end to the war with Russia – an almost complete reversal from 2022, when 73% favoured fighting until victory.
Most said they were sceptical the war would end soon, with 68% saying they believed it was unlikely that active fighting would stop within the next 12 months.
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Trump vowed to end Ukraine war in first 24 hours of his presidency – nearly 200 days in, could he be close?
Seven hours is a long time in US politics.
At 10am, Donald Trump accused Russia of posing a threat to America’s national security.
By 5pm, Mr Trump said there was a “good prospect” of him meeting Vladimir Putin “soon”.
There had, he claimed, been “great progress” in talks between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president.
It’s difficult to gauge the chances of a meeting between the two leaders without knowing what “great progress” means.
Is Russia “inclined” towards agreeing a ceasefire, as Ukraine’s president now claims?
Is Mr Putin prepared to meet with his Ukrainian foe, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, too?
The very fact that we’re asking those questions suggests something shifted on a day when there was no expectation of a breakthrough.
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