A Berkeley man describes the surreal and terrifying moments his 81-year-old mother experienced when Hamas terrorists launched a surprise attack in Israel.
Jacqueline Gliksman was sitting in a shelter in her kibbutz not too far from the Gaza border.
She was on a video call with her son Gabriel Gliksman, who lives in Berkley, when suddenly they heard gunfire.
He immediately told his mother to turn off the lights, mute the phone and hide.
They waited in silence until the video call disconnected.
“I really, truly, feared the worst, you know?” said Gabriel.
They exchanged a couple of text messages but after 20 minutes, his mother stopped replying.
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“I told my wife, you know, ‘we need to brace for the worst, you know? She may not be with us anymore,’” said Gabriel.
The next morning, he was able to connect with a neighbor who was sheltering his mother.
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It turns out, she came face to face with the gunmen.
“Terrorists came in the house, came straight to her, took her phone, her tablet and electronics, and told her to stay quiet and stay in the shelter and he closed the door behind her, only for her to find out that he was planning to burn the house down,” said Gabriel.
His mother recounted her escape in a video, saying she was able to climb out of a tiny window in the shelter as the gunmen burnt down her home.
“Twenty feet from her was another neighbor, Sylvia who was burnt to death alive in her own home. My mom saw the fire and there was nothing she could do, she just kept running,” said Gabriel.
Dressed in only pajamas and slippers, Jaqueline said she saw bodies all around her. But made it to a couples home who took her in until she hitched a ride near Tel Aviv where she’s been staying with her sister ever since.
