“They killed my girl”. Thus, through tears, Julio Rubio confirmed this Wednesday morning that his wife’s only daughter, Ivonne Patricia Rubio Vargas, was found dead in Israel; country to which he and Sharon, his wife, arrived at the beginning of the nineties trying to escape the harsh reality that then fell on Colombia.
Ivonne, just 26 years old, had been reported missing since last Saturday, when the fundamentalist group Hamas began a new escalation of violence in the Middle East, initially attacking the Gaza Stripa narrow strip of land that has witnessed the worst atrocities of the regional conflict.
A short distance from Gaza, very close to the kibbutz (commune) of Reim, Rubio was one of the thousands of people who wanted to celebrate, in the Negev desert, the first edition in Israel of Parallel Universerecognized as the largest music festival trance from Latin America and renamed for this version as Supernova. But neither she—always so aware of the tension of the conflict—nor the rest of the attendees expected a Hamas offensive to come. And much less that it was of such scope.
Videos on social networks showed the moment in which the event’s music was interrupted by a series of missiles. Then the sound of gunshots silenced the bass. From then on, the festival became a tragedy that, according to official estimates, has already left 260 people killed and nearly 3,500 attendees held hostage by Hamasaccording to the newspaper The countryfrom Spain.
Unfortunately, yesterday, October 10, the name of Ivonne Rubio became part of the list of the more than 1,200 deaths counted in the general report. But her legacy is far from being behind us. The family’s loved ones, who will gather this Thursday at 3 pm (local time) in Jerusalem for the funeral ceremonies, have made it clear that they will remember Ivonne for what she has represented to them since she was little: resilience and strength.
(We recommend: The love story of two Colombians in Israel that ended with the lethal Hamas attack).
Ivonne, a woman who always overcame adversity
Ivonne, a university accounting student and promising model, appeared at an audition days before the Supernova as a proudly Colombian woman, “who spoke Spanish and Hebrew.”
The young woman, originally from Bogotá, grew up in Israel without losing her connection with Colombia. Every opportunity I had to travel to the country was seen as a gift; Every J Balvin concert or every National Team match was a reason to honor his roots; and each of his talks was the opportunity for the Israelis, Argentines and Europeans with whom he shared in Israel to get to know a little about the country. All, in the midst of some difficult moments that forged his character.
In 2015, when she was barely 19 years old, Ivonne had to suffer the departure of Simor, one of her best friends, who died in an accident in which two other high school classmates also lost their lives.
Then, following national laws, He performed military service as Andrés, his older brother, had already done.. In that experience, with the Israeli Air Force group, he experienced up close the conflict that unfortunately echoed in the worst way a few days ago.
After returning from the army four years ago, Ivonne had her son Aviel. And although her little boy was a light for her from the beginning, her relationship with her father was not ideal. She, as she said in a harsh letter shared with her friends, was a victim of gender violence by the man who, she said, threatened to kill her.
(Also: Israel: flight that will bring Colombians landed in Lisbon, arrives in Tel Aviv tonight).
I have been through what I have been through and today I feel stronger, I achieve it every day so that my Aviel does not miss anything
“Raising his hand against a woman who is weaker than him is cowardice (…) The day he threatened to kill me, holding a knife in his hand, I made the most difficult decision… I ran away!”he noted in his letter.
“I have been through what I have been through and today I feel stronger, I achieve it every day so that my Aviel does not miss anything. Yes, it’s not easy being a young mother
but it is the best thing that has happened to me and I don’t regret it for a minute,” he wrote then.
Three years ago, in a new relaunch in the city of Kfar Saba, in central Israel, Ivonne met Antonio Macías, a barber of Colombian origin and whose family has been settled in the Middle East for more than three decades. With him, they began a relationship in which they forged a home with Aviel, four years old, and Manuela, Antonio’s six-year-old daughter.
Together with Antonio, Ivonne experienced the difficult moment due to the death of her grandmother, just a couple of weeks ago. And this Saturday, on an express trip, in the midst of celebrating her anniversary, the young woman shared with her what would be her last minutes at the festival. Supernova.
“Daddy, we are at war. “I’m going to look for a bunker.”was the last thing Ivonne managed to say to Julio, her father, before being reported missing.
Antonio’s family, about whom there is still no further information, remains hopeful that the young man is still alive.
(Video: Jhonny Rivera showed what the bunkers in Israel are like).
“We don’t know if (Antonio) had to run away after they killed her. She is too strong. You don’t want to leave the person you love alone. They were a great couple”said Alex Macías, Antonio’s cousin.
At this time, the details of Ivonne’s death are unknown. However, Macías’ family assures that the couple managed to take refuge in a bunker, but, they say, they would have been attacked by Hamas men in the middle of their offensive.
Yesterday, after confirming the death of the Colombian in the new climb, a team of psychologists from the Government of Israel arrived at Antonio’s parents’ house to handle the situation. Until then, relatives had said, the minors did not know what had happened on Saturday.
This afternoon, in Har Hamanouch, Jerusalem, Ivonne’s funeral will be held. At the funeral home, the last goodbye to a woman who proudly carried the Colombian flag more than 11,000 kilometers and who, despite the hardest moments, always did everything to infect the world with her smile..
Foreign Ministry remembers its help lines
The Foreign Ministry recalled yesterday, after mourning the death of Ivonne, that “to serve Colombian citizens affected by the attacks or in vulnerable situations, the Colombian consular section in Tel Aviv remains enabled the emergency line +972 542349992 and the email [email protected]“.
Likewise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled that “Through the website of the Consular Section of Colombia in Tel Aviv (https://telaviv.consulado.gov.co/newsroom), a support route has been established that contains precise instructions for Colombians who are in the area.”
The Foreign Ministry regrets to report that the death of Ivonne Rubio, a Colombian-Israeli citizen who disappeared along with her boyfriend Antonio Macías in the midst of the very serious events that occurred in a desert in southern Israel last Saturday, has been confirmed.https://t.co/dgTIVOeuQ9 pic.twitter.com/RXLGBPrj7S
— Colombian Foreign Ministry (@CancilleriaCol) October 11, 2023
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