Blog

By Nicole Jansezian

Married just one month, Yovel was looking forward to relaxing with her husband Mor over the weekend after a hectic season of wedding celebrations and the series of Jewish holidays which were winding down on October 7.

But after some arm-twisting from their friends, they made a last-minute—and ultimately life-changing—decision to head to a music festival that was taking place in southern Israel. Ten minutes after they arrived, rockets started flying in and concertgoers fled in utter panic. 

Unbeknownst to them, rockets were the least of their worries.

They immediately jumped in their car and started speeding north, assuming they were almost out of harm’s way.

“After about five minutes, we saw one of the infamous white pickups used by Hamas that were in all the videos from that day. It was blocking the road and we had only a split second to decide what we should do. Mor said he was going to try to go around it. He said to duck and to start praying,” Yovel said.

Mor sped up and swerved but a rain of bullets pounded the car. Mor was struck in the head and the car flipped over landing in a ditch.

“I’m pretty sure I lost consciousness when the car flipped because I don’t really remember what happened in those first few minutes,” she said. But after Yovel regained consciousness, she started asking who in the car was alive. Mor didn’t answer.

“I just didn’t know what to do. I tried to save him. I put my hand on his chest and checked for a pulse. I felt that there was no pulse,” she recalled. “I pleaded with him, ‘Mor, get up, please. No, it can’t be that you’re dead. It can’t be. We just got married. There’s no way.’”

But Yovel had no time to grieve. Hamas terrorists were prowling the street shooting at the cars they struck to finish off anyone who survived. They pretended they were dead and waited for help. Help did not arrive for another five hours. During that time Yovel and her friends heard people being kidnapped and a woman being raped. The woman was killed afterwards along with her husband. 

When the army finally arrived, each passenger was taken to a different location until they could finally get them to a hospital later that night for treatment.

Now Yovel, 26, is dealing with anxiety attacks and nightmares and she can’t go back to work.

“I started a new chapter in my life. It’s like a baby learning to walk. They took everything from me, and I must start over again,” she said. 

But she knows she has support and prayers from the CBN Israel family. Through CBN Israel’s partnership with the Jewish Agency, Yovel received financial aid so she could start the process of healing from this unfathomable trauma.

“Thank you for opening your hearts so that we can smile and laugh again. Thank you for thinking of us, and thank you for fighting for us,” she said. “It is not taken for granted how you are helping and standing with us.”

Nicole Jansezian is the media coordinator for CBN Israel. A long-time journalist, Nicole was previously the news editor of All Israel News and All Arab News and a journalist at The Associated Press. On her YouTube channel, Nicole gives a platform to the minority communities in Jerusalem and highlights stories of fascinating people in this intense city. Born and raised in Queens, N.Y., she lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Tony, and their three children.