Hananel, the widower of Tze'ela Gez, who was murdered in a terror attack while on her way to the delivery room, shared the harrowing moments in an interview with Kan 11 on Saturday.
“I saw a green laser making small circles, moving toward us, and suddenly it was aimed straight at the driver. The laser came from an M-16, about 15 meters away. Suddenly there was a boom — a very loud noise — and a hole appeared in the windshield in front of me,” he recounted.
“I felt shrapnel and pain in my arm and chest, but the car kept driving at the same speed, so I didn’t understand if something had actually happened or not. I asked Tze'ela if she was okay and saw that she was bleeding from her neck, chest, and arm. It was very hard to see. We veered into the opposite lane and nearly flipped, and I realized I had to do something.”
“I immediately grabbed the wheel and turned back into the lane,” he said. “When I saw we weren’t stopping, I slammed on the brake with my left foot and the car stopped. I called for help right away, reported that my wife had been shot, and gave them our location. I tried to stop the bleeding. She couldn’t speak — she was gone instantly. It was one second that felt like eternity.”
Hananel remembered: “When help arrived, they asked me if there were any children in the car, and I said there’s a baby in her womb, and they should evacuate her immediately. I knew the situation wasn't good, but I didn’t want to believe she was dead. She died right there — it was awful.”
He shared how he was told at the hospital: “They told me the baby was still alive, and then they told me my wife didn’t survive. I kept asking if they were sure, and each time they said yes.”
He described choosing the name for their newborn son, born after his mother’s murder: “Tze'ela loved the name ‘Ravid,’ and we added ‘Chaim’ because he’s between life and death. During the shiva, we announced the name, and on the same day, the unit commander who eliminated the terrorist came to visit. When we told him the baby’s name was Ravid Chaim, he said, ‘That’s my name,’ and he started crying. I hugged him and we cried together.”
The baby’s condition remains serious, Hananel added. “He was without oxygen to the brain for a long time. There’s likely significant brain damage, but there’s still a one percent chance he’ll live. I don’t know what condition he’ll be in. The doctors are not optimistic.”
He concluded by sharing how he’s coping since his wife’s murder: “I understand what happened, and I know that if we don’t allow ourselves to feel all the emotions, it’ll eat us from the inside. Half the night I cry, and G-d mercifully gives me two or three hours of sleep. We have to be strong and not let them break us — otherwise, they’ve won.”