The family of a 22-year-old Canadian-Israeli woman, who was missing since Hamas militants ambushed a music festival in southern Israel, says she has died.
Shir Georgy went missing after the group attacked the Tribe of Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im last Saturday.
Her cousin said she called her parents that morning to let them know she found refuge in a bomb shelter and not to worry.
“The last they heard of her is that she was in a safe room with the security of the party and with cops not knowing the extent and the horrible actions that were going to take place there. They’re used to rockets sadly, they’re used to this, but never, never to this extent,” said Sivane Dahan, Georgy’s cousin.
Georgy’s aunt, Michal Bouganim, shared a video earlier this week on social media where Georgy is seen in a white shirt and purple scarf sitting on the floor among a group of other young people. One person is bleeding from the leg.
“The whole week we tried to find pieces of a puzzle. We shared it all over the world … we prayed for any information that we could get. We actually got a video. That was the last video that we have showing her scared in that room on the Saturday morning,” said Dahane.
Georgy was the eldest of three children. Her mother grew up in Montreal and later moved to Israel.
“Shir was the light of her house. She was a sweet, gentle, amazing girl that always loved and respected everybody around her. She loved to live,” said Dahane.
Georgy had just completed a lengthy trip across South America with friends this summer, said her cousin.
“It breaks my heart that she went to dance at a peace festival and ended up not coming back,” she added.
Georgy’s parents went from one hospital to another searching for their daughter.
“They were asked to bring DNA, so they provided them, I believe, with her toothbrush. And unfortunately, that’s the sad reality, is that parents had to bring a piece of DNA for them to be able to identify all these kids,” said Dahane.
On Saturday, Bouganim posted to Instagram that the family confirmed Georgy had died.
“My family received the terrible news. It is with great sadness and a broken heart that we announce the murder of our beloved Shir,” Bouganim wrote in the post.
The family held Georgy’s funeral in Israel on Saturday.
She is the fourth Canadian to die in the Israel and Hamas conflict.
“She was so good hearted and she was so kind, just helping others and just living life. She was just telling her grandmother how she wanted to get married and have kids and it’s so heartbreaking that she’ll never get to do that. Her life was cut short,” said Dahane.