Israeli peace activist murdered by Hamas on October 7 sends message from beyond the grave to country’s children
A KIND-HEARTED peace activist slaughtered by Hamas on October 7 has sent a message of hope to children across Israel from beyond the grave.
Child trauma expert Lilach Kipnis, 60, wrote a book to help kids cope with the constant stress of war in Israel.
She also campaigned to bring together Israeli and Palestinian communities – but was ruthlessly cut down by Hamas hordes on October 7 among 100 victims in the Be’eri kibbutz.
Now, copies of her beautifully illustrated book “Sounds That Shock” are being distributed to youngsters across Israel with the backing of Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
And every copy will be printed on a press in Be’eri – which miraculously survived the carnage in which a tenth of its 1,100-strong population died.
The once-idyllic community is just two miles from Gaza and children living there grew up amid the constant threat of Hamas rockets.
Lilach’s 64 year-old brother Aviv Havron – who has had six family members kidnapped then freed by Hamas – told The Sun: “Lilach was born in the kibbutz and dedicated her whole life to helping people – especially children.
“She realised that the incredible stress caused to people who live under constant threat all of the time.
“So she wrote a book to help children cope when they hear the constant sirens and alarms warning that a rocket is coming.
“Children in Be’eri and other kibbutz communities know that once the alarm sounds you have a matter of seconds to take cover because Gaza is so close.
“The book tells them that it is best not to live in constant fear – because the alerts do not last long and life goes on.
“It reassures them that everything will be ok and that one day things will get better and we will live in peace.
“It is crazy to me that this wonderful woman who tries her whole life to bring people together should be murdered.
“She has Palestinian friends who have not stopped crying since she was killed – it is awful but hopefully the book will be her legacy.”
Israeli writer Aviv will be among family members invited to Mr Herzog’s residence for the launch of the book tomorrow on Tuesday.
More than 150,000 copies of the book will be distributed throughout Israel with copies of the weekend edition of the nation’s bestselling paper Yediot Aharonot on Friday.
Aviv added: “It is actually quite sad that this book will be so useful to so many of our young people facing the trauma of war every day of their lives.
“Hopefully it will not always be like this.”
The six members of Aviv’s extended family freed on Saturday included a soccer-mad schoolboy who spent 50 days cowering in Hamas terror tunnels.
Naveh Shoham, eight, spent 50 days in the hell of Gaza with his three-year-old sister Yehal and their mum Adi, 38 – but has bounced back by having a kickabout, Aviv told The Sun.
The ball was one of the few fragments of the happy lad’s old life to remain intact when Hamas savages destroyed his family home in Be’eri.
Aviv said: “It was wonderful to see Naveh playing football again.
“The family’s home was destroyed on October 7 and they were all taken to Gaza, but Neveh’s grandfather found his football in the garden outside.
“It was one of the few of the family’s possessions found intact and his grandfather kept it for him in the hope that he might play with it again.
“Naveh was thrilled when he saw it and it was marvellous to see him kicking his ball and behaving normally after such an experience.
“While he was in Gaza it became well known how much he loved football and we were sent many football shirts – including English Premiership shirts – from kind people supporting us.
“We’re doing our best to get all of the children back to something like normality – we have been reading stories to Yehal and she seems happy.
“But we also accept that all of their lives will never be the same after what happened and they will need a lot of care and support.
“They will all be receiving trauma counselling and a lot of professional help and they will need time to heal.
”All we can give them are hugs.”
Aviv’s sister Shoshan Haran – Neveh and Yehal’s 67-year-old gran – was also freed with Shoshan’s sister-in-law Sharon Avigdori, 52, and her daughter, Noam, 12.
Shoshan’s husband Avshalom died in the horror along with her and Lilach Kipnis and her husband Evyatar, 65.