Fathers, mothers, children: The story of three families completely erased in the October 7 massacre

Three families from the Gaza border area were completely wiped out in the October 7, 2023 massacre. The Siman Tov family was burned in their home in Nir Oz; the Kutz family was shot in their beds in Kfar Gaza; the Kapshitar family was shot on their way home from camping. The article describes their personal stories.

Three families from the Gaza border area were completely wiped out in the October 7, 2023 massacre. The Siman Tov family from Nir Oz: Yonatan (Johnny, 36) and Tamar (35) with their three children – twins Arbel and Shachar, aged 5.5, and Omer, aged two years and three months – entered their safe room as the sirens began. At 9:20 AM, terrorists broke into the house, shot at the door, and when they could not break in, set the house on fire. Tamar and Johnny were seriously wounded by gunfire, and the three children suffocated from the smoke. Johnny's mother, Carol Siman Tov, was also murdered in her home that same morning. The Kutz family from Kfar Gaza: Aviv (53) and Livnat (49) with their three children – Rotem (18), Yonatan (16), and Yiftach (14) – were shot in their beds before 7 AM. ZAKA found them embracing together. The Kapshitar family from Beersheba: Dina (34) and Yevgeny (Genya, 36) with their daughter Elin (9) and son Eitan (5) – went camping in Ashkelon on October 6. With the sirens the next day, they packed up their tents and on the way home, near Sderot, encountered terrorists who shot and murdered all four of them. Elin's body was only identified on October 18.