A British teenager who went missing after Hamas attacked southern Israel was murdered, according to her family.
Yahel, 13, disappeared after militants attacked Kibbutz Be’eri and killed her Bristol-born mother Lianne, 48, on October 7.
Family members have now confirmed to the BBC that the teenager has died.
Her sister, Noiya, 16, and father Eli, 51, are still reported missing.
Terrible news from Israel. British teenager Yahel, 13, who was missing with sister Noiya, 16, confirmed as having been murdered. Her mum Lianne was also murdered. Her sister & dad are still missing. Her relative said she was “funny all the time & liked music, singing & dancing.” pic.twitter.com/5O3M4PeAA4
— lucy manning (@lucymanning) October 17, 2023
Earlier, the girls’ uncles Raz Matalon and Sharon Sharabi said they were not able to eat or sleep while they worried about their safety.
Speaking to MailOnline they said: “We are in a very difficult place. We are going from funeral to funeral. Still, I am praying for my family. We want to come together as a family to celebrate life and we want them to come back with joy and happiness as soon as possible.”
Before Yahel’s death was confirmed, Mr Sharabi told the BBC that she was “funny, all the time. She likes to hear music, singing for us, dancing.”
He said that her sister Noiya loved to cook and is “always happy”, while their mother Lianne “enriched the lives of all those lucky enough to be have known and loved her”.
Mr Matalon and Mr Sharabi explained how, on the day their family was attacked, Lianne had sent a WhatsApp message saying “that something very bad was happening”.
They did not understand what she meant until she described hearing gunshots outside her home and people screaming in Arabic.
Lianne told her relatives they had to hide in a safe room while they listened to gunmen enter their house.
Raz and Sharon said their brother Yossi, 53, tried to hold the door closed to block the militants from getting in before they overpowered him and took him hostage as well.
Soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly found blood stains on the floor of Noiya and Yahel’s bedroom, along with a dead dog and gunshots in the bomb shelter.
Rishi Sunak told MPs on Monday at least six Britons were killed and a further 10 are missing following the “pogrom” on October 7. He also called for the immediate release of the around 200 hostages taken by the militant group.
Britain is doing “everything” possible to save the up to 10 British hostages being held by Hamas, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell vowed on Tuesday.
“We are thinking of them all the time. And of course we are strongly supporting the attempt by Israel to find them and release them,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“The British Government will do everything we possibly can to get them back, as soon as we possibly can.
“We mourn the six British hostages we know who have died and we are extremely concerned about the fate and the state of the other 10.”
