The family of a 20-year-old Mercer County native, who was in Israel during the surprise attack by Hamas, have learned that he is dead.
Laor Abramov used to live in Hopewell, New Jersey — where he lived with his mother, until last year when he returned to Israel to serve in the military and to pursue a career as a DJ like his father, David Abramov, who had gained some fame behind the turntables himself.
“With a heavy heart for the death of our beloved Laor Abramov.” wrote David Abramov on Facebook. “Our home is open to anyone who would like to come and bring their hearts and condolences. There will be no funeral (we will hold a private ceremony).”
More than 1,000 Israelis — many of them women, children, and the elderly — were killed when armed militants launched the surprise attack from the Gaza Strip around 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
At least 150 Israeli civilians and soldiers who survived the onslaught were taken hostage.
Laor was at a music festival when Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday.
The missing man’s family conducted a frantic search and prayed that he survived after learning from witnesses that he was hauled out of a bomb shelter shortly after the attack.
His mother, Michal Halev, a U.S. citizen residing in New Jersey, announced on Facebook, “My only son the love of my life passed from here. The world has come to a standstill.”
“My heart aches on the death of our beloved Or Avramov. Our house is open to anyone who wants to come and bring his heart and condolences,” his father David Abramov posted on Facebook.
Hamas is an Islamist militant movement and one of the Palestinian territories’ two major political parties. It governs more than two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, but the group is best known for its armed resistance to Israel.
The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern and its surprise attack against Israel threatens to become a wider conflagration in the Middle East.