In the cemetery of a small moshav, under the shade of the trees, a British mother and her two daughters were buried beneath the soil of Israel, in the land they made their home.
Lianne, Noiya and Yahel Sharabi were killed in Be’eri, on the morning of Saturday 7 October when the peace of Shabbat and the gentle sanctuary of the Kibbutzim were shattered by the hatred of Hamas.
“They are shouting die Israel, please call for help”, was Lianne’s final text message to relatives, as Hamas fighters headed towards their house – but help came too late to save them.
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Sixteen-year-old Noiya was described as “a huggable bundle of beauty” who was a “great dancer and awful singer!”
Thirteen-year-old Yahel loved animals and was a bright student at school.
“What you see now is what happened when we fail, when Israel fails, even just for a minute, to protect their citizens,” Lianne’s brother-in-law Raz told Sky News.
Lianne’s husband and the girls’ father Eli is thought to be in Gaza, one of the 220 hostages whose fate is unknown and which hangs heavy on the future of Israel.
In a recorded message sent from England, Lianne’s mother remembered the lives of her daughter:
She said: “We will miss our girl to the end of our days, and keep her in our hearts forever, tucked away with the fondest memory of her 48 years. Goodnight, sleep tight sweetheart.”
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In Kfar Harif, schoolfriends sat by the graves, tears streaming down their faces, not wanting to leave but forced to say a final goodbye in a moment that has forever stolen any naivety of youth.
Palestinian or Israeli, this is now a place of constant funerals; the daily burial of innocents who wanted no part in this fight, and with the depressing certainty of more to come.
