Hero Brit killed by Hamas as he tried to evacuate injured civilians from gunmen

16 October 2023 , 14:49

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Benjamin Trakeniski was killed by Hamas

A hero Brit was killed by Hamas militants as he desperately tried to evacuate injured civilians from gunmen who butchered babies in a town massacre, The Mirror can reveal.

Brave Benjamin Trakeniski, 32, died helping rescue people from Be'eri - one of the first Kibbutz communities armed militants stormed and turned into a bloodbath. British-Israeli citizen Benjamin, known as Benji to friends, was off duty from the Brigade 7 Unit but travelled from his home in Tel Aviv to aid the besieged town.

He was due to wed Israeli tattoo artist Rotem next April. But his devastated fiancee instead read out her wedding vows at his funeral on Thursday.

He was killed by militants after going to help evacuate wounded civilians

Benjamin's London-born mum Liz Bennett also paid tribute to her son at the service. Mrs Bennett, 68, said her son was off duty but dashed to the kibbutz to help stricken civilians.

She said: "He was off duty and at his home in Tel Aviv and initially drove with colleagues to his base in the north in the morning when they heard rumours about what was happening. When they found out what was going on in Be’eri they drove from the base to the kibbutz and managed to eliminate some terrorists and help some families who were hiding from the terrorists."

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"We do not know the full details, but I understand he then went back into the kibbutz and was killed at that point." Yesterday The Mirror told how brave Israeli police fought to the death against Hamas gunmen in Be’eri - even grabbing terrorist guns and emptying their magazines before being killed.

It is thought the efforts of the security forces saved many Israelis from being killed or kidnapped. And we also revealed how it is believed some of the Hamas men had worked on local farms near Kibbutzim after rules about leaving Gaza were relaxed. That made some of the attack an “inside job” according to officials.

Chris Hughes in Jerusalem