‘My sister was murdered at the Nova festival but her death was not in vain – she saved countless lives’

At 7.15am, Hamas terrorists threw four grenades into the shelter. Both Ben and Gali lost their right legs while Shani escaped unscathed. Certain that her friends had died, Shani ran out of the shelter to her car but was shot in the leg. She managed to drive back to the area of the festival to seek medical attention.

On her way, she encountered a group of festivalgoers and signalled to them to drive east toward the village of Moshav Patish, almost certainly helping to save their lives.

Recalling how the morning unfolded, Shani’s brother Aviel said: “I spoke to her around 9 am, told her to relax, breathe, and that our father was on his way to her. He had almost reached Re’im. I asked her to be in contact with him.”

“Shortly thereafter, police officers told everyone to ‘run and save yourselves,’ but my sister couldn’t run on her own. Four women — Noam Shalom, Karin Journo, Lior Atun and Moriah Or Swissa — helped her,” he said.

The women hid inside an abandoned ambulance along with 15 other people. Hamas terrorists threw in grenades, shot at people hiding under the vehicle and then fired rocket-propelled grenades. Eighteen of the 20 people inside were killed; only two managed to escape.

“My father arrived onsite at 9.30 am., unarmed and with the belief that he would find Shani. The place was on fire and full of terrorists,” Aviel said.

“Hamas fired RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] rockets at 9.25 am. My dad saw the burnt ambulance but did not immediately understand what had happened. Had he left a few minutes earlier, Shani might have come home.”

The siblings’ father, Yaakov, arrived at Kibbutz Re’im, about 6km east of Gaza in southern Israel near the Negev Desert, before the security forces to search for his daughter.

During his desperate search, he rescued countless other young people, driving them away from the area of the festival.

Had Shani not been caught up in the terror attack, “my father would not have driven three hours from Yokneam [in the Lower Galilee] to Kibbutz Re’im to look for her and would not have saved many others in the process,” Aviel said.

Yaakov stayed in Re’im for five days and was joined by Aviel, to examine bodies in hopes of identifying Shani, who was considered a missing person for 47 days.

When a necklace was found carrying Shani’s DNA and that of another woman, Israeli authorities opened the grave of the second victim and found two burnt bodies buried together as one.

On November 23, the family was informed that Shani’s remains had been located.

“Shani turned 26 on November 29. We ended our shivah on her birthday,” said Aviel, who described her sister as “the coolest girl in the world”.

“Shani had a unique laugh. When you heard it, you knew it was hers. She managed to achieve every goal she had set for herself. She graduated from college with a law degree. She loved to sing, surf and go to the beach.

“She enjoyed and took advantage of every minute of her life. She travelled, went to dance at festivals and did everything she liked when she wanted to.”

In memory of Shani, her family has renovated a dog park in Yokneam and opened an association to protect the environment.

Israel marked its first post-October 7 Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron, on Sunday, starting at sundown and extending into Monday.

“Yom Hazikaron is hard for us. We attended two ceremonies and lots of meetings to tell her story,” Aviel said.

“It’s not easy but it’s important for me. I want to talk about her. I want everyone to know her and understand what the world has lost. My sister was a fighter.”

Asked what her message to others would be, Aviel said: “Hug your brothers and sisters. Cherish your family. Love them. Our world collapsed on a bright sunny day and it can happen to anyone. Be good to your family and bring our hostages back now.”