Not Even a Bomb Shelter Was Safe

On November 18, 2024, a missile launched by Hezbollah slipped past Israel’s defenses and struck the apartment building where Razan and her family lived. Only her mother, Safa, was home at the time. Razan heartbreakingly recounts, “It was a direct hit into the bomb shelter. It came through the ceiling and into the floor below that had a reinforced shelter room. My mom was inside that room.”

Razan’s mother, Safa—a 50-year-old schoolteacher with four children—was killed when the rocket tore through the walls of their safe room. A neighbor who witnessed the tragedy still remembers it vividly. “It was a huge explosion. No one really knew where it was. Suddenly the whole neighborhood was buried in dust. And it was not just fragments; it was the rocket itself. It was a direct hit. So, there is nothing you could do in such a situation.” Pausing with emotion, the neighbor adds, “She was a good woman.”

As the family grieves and tries to rebuild from nothing, their old home remains frozen in time—dishes in the sink, laundry still hanging on the line—quiet, haunting reminders of a normal life, suddenly cut short. Razan reflects on the pain of those memories: “You enter the kitchen and remember how your mom would make food... Cooking was something very important to her. She would cook with her whole heart. She would send food with each of us, and even to our friends at school. I have so many memories of her in the kitchen, in this house, how present she was. And every time I go there... it is so hard. It’s hard for me to understand that there is a life that ended, memories that will never be repeated.”

Thanks to you, CBN Israel was able to provide vital financial support—covering the family’s rent at a new home and helping Razan stay on track with her degree at Haifa University. CBN Israel also provided grief counseling to offer emotional strength and compassion in the wake of such a heartbreaking loss. The support gives Razan hope. “It gives me hope that we are still here. The family is still here and we will continue being strong in a new house without her.” She concludes with a grateful message: "Thank you for giving me a safe place to actually just sit and talk about what actually happened. I really appreciate that. So, thank you, CBN Israel. Thank you."