21-year-old Israeli-Canadian jumped on grenade to save fiancee during Hamas attack, family says

CTV National News: Escape from Gaza Judy Trinh has more on a Canadian-Palestinian couple's journey to get the rest of their family out of war-torn Gaza.

An Israeli-Canadian sacrificed his life to save his fiancée during an attack by Hamas militants, his family confirmed to CTVNews.ca.

Netta Epstein, a 21-year-old Israeli with Canadian citizenship, died when he jumped on a grenade in southern Israel on Saturday Oct. 7.

His family told CTVNews.ca that Epstein and his fiancée, Irene Shavit, had been taking cover in his apartment’s safe house.

Epstein's mother said she received a text message from her son about what was going on.

“I hear shouts in Arabic. There’s a lot of noise around. There’s shooting,” his mother, Ayelet Shachar-Epstein, said her son wrote to her.

“The next thing he wrote was, ‘They’re here, Mom.’”

A series of attacks began at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7. Sirens warned Israelis throughout the country of incoming rockets launched from Gaza in a co-ordinated effort by Hamas, a group which the Canadian government has classified as a terrorist organization for decades.

To residents of Kfar Aza Kibbutz, a farming community of about 750 people located between Netivot and Sderot in southern Israel, the threat of rockets was nothing out of the ordinary.

“We know the drill very well,” Shachar-Epstein, whose parents were originally from Montreal but who grew up in Israel, told CTVNews.ca over the phone.

Unaware that armed Hamas militants had stormed through blockaded areas of the Gaza Strip and were about to kill what the Israeli government estimates as more than a thousand Israeli civilians, Shachar-Epstein left her home to check on her mother-in-law, who she found dead at the entrance of her home, she said.

As Shachar-Epstein took cover in a safe room with her father-in-law, and the rest of her family hid throughout the kibbutz, she corresponded with loved ones through a texting app, knowing that cut electricity meant communication was limited by battery life, she said.

Through messages with Shavit, she said, she learned that Hamas attackers “burst into their room and threw grenades into the apartment.”

Shachar-Epstein said she was told that after attackers opened fire, and a third grenade landed close to Shavit, “Netta jumped onto the grenade, like he was trained (to do) in the army.”

His body blocked the explosion, his mother said, sacrificing his life, but saving Shavit’s.

Epstein’s fiancée hid in the ravaged safe room until Israeli soldiers saved her later that day, his family told CTV News.

“He had a huge heart, my son,” Shachar-Epstein said. “He was beautiful on the outside but also the inside.”

Shachar-Epstein said she remembers watching the televised terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, while she was pregnant with him.

“I remember lying down on the sofa watching horrific terror taking place in New York and thinking to myself, ‘I truthfully hope that we won’t be facing anything like that when my child comes to the world.’”

‘THE KINDEST, SMARTEST PERSON’

From the moment her son was born, she said, “he brought so much happiness and hope to our lives. He was my firstborn child but also the first grandson in our family so double happiness.”

Shachar-Epstein said her son loved soccer from a young age.

“He was a terrific soccer player. He was a goalie. He really did very well in that.”

Growing up, Epstein was outgoing, silly and kind, according to those who knew him.

“He was the kindest, smartest person I’ve ever met,” said his childhood friend Jake Niefeld, who went to summer camp with Epstein in their teenage years.

“He was able to go one second to being the silliest person in the world and having the biggest smile on his face to, five minutes later, being able to be there for people. He was amazing," Niefeld told CTV News following news of Epstein's death.

Shachar-Epstein said her son volunteered for youth with special needs when he finished high school.

“He really found himself there. It wasn’t an easy task at all,” she said. “He needed to really collect himself and be very strong to do what he did there. He was there for them. He had fun with them. He played soccer with them. He would read them bedtime stories. They loved him dearly.”

After Epstein completed his mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Forces, Shachar-Epstein said, she remembers feeling relieved.

“Once he got out of the army…we took a deep breath and said, ‘Thank God, now he’s with us. He’s back at home and he’s safe.’ That’s…I don’t know how to say it... God laughed in our faces, I guess.”

Shachar-Epstein says her son met his fiancée, Shavit, 18 months ago.

“Although they’re both very young, they became a very serious couple,” she said. “They were talking about getting married, having children, building their home. In many situations, I would say, ‘Hang on, Netta. It’s just the beginning of your life, there’s so many things you’re going to experience. You don’t need to obligate yourself so quickly.' But he kept on saying, ‘Mommy, I love her so much. This is the woman of my life.’”

She added, “We love her dearly. She’s an amazing woman. We were very happy with them being together.”

'A FAREWELL PRESENT'

Shachar-Epstein also mentioned a trek her son and daughter, Rona, did in France recently: “They did eight days of hiking in Mont Blanc this September.”

After the two siblings completed their hike, Shachar-Epstein, her husband, Ori, and their youngest daughter, Alma, met them in Geneva, Switzerland.

“The five of us celebrated five lovely, lovely days as a family, which we think today was our present, maybe his farewell present to us,” she said.

Shachar-Epstein said she recalls so many “beautiful moments” on that trip, which she said was full of jokes, songs and “precious moments” she will carry with her forever.

Epstein was among more than 50 other residents of the kibbutz whose bodies are still being identified.

Shachar-Epstein told CTVNews.ca that her nephew, who lived near her son, has been missing since the attacks.

In the days since the Hamas attack, more than 2,800 people have been killed on both sides of the Gaza border, according to estimates from officials in the area.

For Shachar-Epstein, some relief can be found in memories.

“Telling his story is a bit like having him back,” she said. “I think it’s therapy. I really think it is.”