Four people killed on Sunday when a building collapsed following an Iranian missile strike on Haifa were members of the same family, it has emerged.
The IDF had tried to intercept the incoming projectile, but it broke apart early, scattering shrapnel and causing a residential building to collapse and burying the victims.
The four victims – whose bodies were recovered by rescue workers on Monday – have been identified as husband and wife Vladimir Gershovitz, 73, and Lena Ostrovsky Gershovitz, 68; their son Dimitri Gershovitz, 42; and his wife, Lucille-Jane Gershovitz, 29.
Vladimir, who was retired, and Lena, a veteran voice coach, were originally from Ukraine. Dimitri – who was also known as Dima – married Lucille-Jane, who was from the Philippines, in April 2024. The younger couple, who lived in Herzliya, had travelled to Haifa on Sunday to escort Vladimir home after an extended hospital stay, just hours before the missile hit his home.
It took rescue teams 18 hours to recover all four bodies from the wreckage.
A relative quoted in Hebrew media described the four as a “family of beloved people with hearts of gold”.
The friend said: “They were always kind and pleasant to everyone they met, loved life, loved culture and loved travelling. They left a mark of light everywhere they went and on every person they met. We, the family, are heartbroken. Losing them is a terrible tragedy. Not only for us, but for everyone who knew them. We will miss them very much."
Industry figures have mourned Lena, who taught at the Nissan Nativ acting school in Jerusalem.
Over her three-decade she “nurtured generations of actors with dedication, professionalism and foremost a great love for the work and for her students,” the Israeli Actors Association said in a statement mourning her death, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
Israel’s culture minister Miki Zohar also paid tribute to Lena, praising her for the impact she had on the “generations of actors who passed through her studio”.
And Israeli actress and theatre director Keren Tsur wrote of the voice coach: “She was a mythological teacher. There were not many actors in the country who did not know her.”
Dima, who had worked as a software engineer was an "exceptional person” and “even as a child he stood out as gifted, a prodigy who studied in advanced classes, played piano and continued on an academic track”, according to a family friend.
Lucille, who worked as a nursery nurse “always had a smile [and] loved the children as if they were her own,” a parent of a child who attends the centre told Ynet.
“At Purim, she was fully part of the celebration, even dressing up with them. She loved Israel so much that she attended Hebrew classes twice a week. This is a heavy loss for our children and us,”
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog posted on X: “A wonderful family that was wiped out in an instant by a criminal Iranian missile last night in Haifa.”
The Haifa hit was one of dozens across Israel over the weekend as the Iranian regime continued its barrage of strikes.
More than 500 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran at Israel since the start of the war.
IDF Home Front Command, which issues alerts to civilians during conflict, has extended its wartime guidelines until at least Thursday night, when Pesach comes to a close. In most of the country, this means gatherings are limited to 50 people, with educational activities on pause too.
The extension will be reviewed again on Thursday evening.
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