His parents shielded him from gunfire as Hamas attacked. He survived. They did not
By MICHAEL CASEY and TRISHA AHMED
Associated Press
An Israeli-American teenager survived a siege by Hamas attackers over the weekend after his parents shielded him from the gunfire but were killed themselves. The family lived on a kibbutz in southern Israel near the Gaza border. As the fighters invaded their home, they scrambled into a tiny room meant to protect them from rocket attacks. Relatives said Shlomi Mathias had his arm blown off trying to keep the fighters out of the room. As fighters peppered the room with gunfire, Debbie Mathias yelled at her son, Rotem, to get down. Then she was shot dead.
