Lior Tarshansky

Lior Tarshansky, 15, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.

Terrorists tried to storm into the safe room where Lior was hiding out with his sister, Gali, and father, Ilya. They then lit the home on fire, and the Tarshanskys tried to jump out of the window, but terrorists were waiting and opened fire, killing Lior. Gali was taken captive to Gaza, while Ilya managed to escape.

Lior is survived by his mother, Reuma, father, Ilya, sister, Gali, grandparents Kamelia and Yehuda and many other family members. Lior’s uncle, Noy Shosh, was also murdered on October 7.

“I haven’t succeeding in mourning Lior,” his mother, Reuma, told Channel 12 news on November 9. “I haven’t come to terms yet with that fact — that I have a daughter who is missing and another child who is gone… there are moments when I cry and break down but it’s not mourning.”

“We’ve asked for forgiveness from Lior, that right now we’re focused on Gali,” she said, noting that for that reason they have not yet held a funeral. Reuma said that as they continued to attend marches and protests for the hostages, “We added him to our placards, he’s also part of the conversation, he’s with us. We’ll find time in the future to give him the time and the honor he deserves. Right now we’re not available for that.”

His grandmother, Kamelia, who also lives in Be’eri, told Ynet that on the morning of October 7, “I wrote to Lior and he told me that everything is OK, but I understood from his brief words that he was writing under great stress. He sent me a kiss, and I told him I loved him, and that was our last conversation.”

Kamelia told 103FM radio that “for two weeks we didn’t know where either of the children were, they were missing, about two weeks later they told us that Lior’s body had been found and he was killed, and later they told us Gali was kidnapped.”

Lior, a devoted fan of the Maccabi Haifa soccer team, was supposed to turn 16 on October 24. The team published a video that day paying tribute to Lior, featuring a balloon tied to an empty chair.

“Today you should have been at the 16th birthday celebrations, and in this seat you were supposed to sit in the match against Hapoel Beer Sheva,” the team wrote. “Lior Tarshansky from Kibbutz Beeri, was murdered in the terror attack by Hamas in 7th October. Forever in our hearts.”

His aunt, Roxanne Saar, penned a tribute to him on Facebook.

“Liori, the beloved child with the almond eyes. How can it be that I won’t see you again?” she wrote. “Your shy smile? The manly hottie you turned out to be? How can it be that you’ll never see the wins by Maccabi Haifa, who you loved so much?”

“How can it be that you won’t laugh, be sad, travel, see and conquer the world, fall in love?” she wrote. “Liorki, I don’t know how to recover from such a horror… I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you my beloved child. I’m sorry we were helpless.”

Lior’s uncle, Gonen Saar, also paid tribute to him on social media.

“When I think, I think about you, about what you will never become. And you, you could have become whatever you wanted, the king of the jungle or the king of the mountains — there was so much you could have been and won’t be, that my mind cannot handle the thoughts.”

Time has stood still since October 7, Saar wrote, with all the weeks that have passed feeling like barely a minute.

“And memory? Maybe in the future, who knows. When you don’t answer, don’t call, don’t come visit, when you’re missing in photos, at the game, in your chair,” he wrote. “When I stop looking for your lack of existence and get used to the loss, maybe then memory will come. In the meantime, I will close my eyes and hug you.”
Source: The Times of Israel