Brit who lost wife and two girls killed by Hamas meets man who lost wife and son
They are two husbands and fathers who will now be forever united in grief.
Hero British Rabbi Leo Dee lost his wife and two daughters killed by a Hamas gunman earlier this year. Exactly six months later Avida Bachar lost his wife, son and his leg was amputated in the October 7th attacks. They embraced at an extraordinary and emotional meeting in a hotel on the Dead Sea which the Daily Mirror was invited to Avida: “I’ve lost my wife, my 15-year-old son and my leg. Who cares about my leg?”
“My son’s last words to me were: ‘bury me with my surfboard.’” He recalled lying in the safe room of his house for eight hours with his wife Dana’s body in his arms. He said: “My wife went cold after 15 minutes and I knew she was gone. “I told my son Carmel ‘mummy is not in pain any more, we just need to find ways of keeping alive’. Avida was at Kibbutz Beer‘i which has been described as “Ground Zero”.
Both men have nothing but disgust for Hamas. But they want the Palestinian people to find peace, security and happiness. In May the Daily Mirror revealed how Dee, in an incredible gesture of generosity, allowed his wife Lucy’s kidney to be given in a transplant to a dying Palestinian carpenter.
Israeli forces in Gaza (Anadolu via Getty Images)Dee added: “We must save the ordinary Palestinian people from their Hamas leaders. “They deserve much better than this. “The defeat of Hamas will help the world become a less dangerous place for all humanity. “Eventually I’m convinced that we will find a way for Arabs and Jews to live in harmony.”
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He said: “These people who had lost their loved ones on October 7th were happy and celebrating life, but the terrorists celebrated death. “We want to live and we want to help other people to live. They want us to die.” On Saturday the house belonging to the family of a Hamas gunman who killed his wife Lucy, 48, and daughters Maia, 20 and Rina, 15 was bulldozed to the ground.
The gunman had previously been killed but the Israelis decided to pull down the property in a bid to deter other potential killers. Dee added: “I’m not sure this particular individual act will stop other young men becoming killers but I understand why our forces did in the current circumstances with the war against Hamas.” Dee is meeting the families of victims of the attacks and was introduced to Avida.*
When the attacks started he was forced to lay there for hours next to the bodies of his dead wife and son, killed by shrapnel, as his leg bled. By the time he was rescued doctors were unable to save his right leg. His daughter also survived. Avida thanked the British rabbi, from Radlett, Herts adding: “It’s people like him who will help me through this.
“For me life is like a train journey. There are various stops but you have to keep on the train wherever it’s heading.” He recalled: “We heard the gunfire and immediately headed to the safe room. “It was meant simply as a bomb shelter so it didn’t have a lock on the inside. I had to hold the handle all the time as they tried to get in. “They fired shots through the door.
The first volley missed but the second hit my leg. “I was bleeding heavily but I didn’t want my wife, who was still alive then, and my children to know. “The first group couldn’t get in so left, then a second group arrived. “My wife went cold after 15 minutes and I knew she was gone. “I told my son ‘mummy is not in pain any more, we just need to find ways of keeping alive’.”
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