The Basque Iván Illarramendi, 46, and his wife, the Chilean Dafna Garcovich, 47, were murdered by Hamas on October 7, the same day as the massacre in the kibbutz that claimed 1,200 lives, including the from another Spaniard, a 19-year-old Sevillian who was doing military service. They were not kidnapped. The identification of the corpses was delayed because they appeared charred and there were hardly any tissues to carry out the analysis. The bodies were on the Kissufin agricultural farm, where they had lived for years, very close to the border with the Strip.
Now him 'El Confidencial' newspaper has brought to light the agonizing WhatsApp messages that Illarramendi exchanged with his closest circle before losing his life. Born in Zarautz and after living for a time in Bilbao where he grew up with an aunt, he moved with his wife, who had Israeli roots, to the place where they died.
The messages that reached his acquaintances in Spain reflect the tragedy that he, his wife and the nearly 300 people who were with them on the farm experienced for hours in the face of the violence of the Hamas terrorists and the lack of knowledge of what was happening. . At ten thirty in the morning, Illarramendi sent his last chat. Then silence.
“Dangerous morning”
'El Confidencia' recounts how on the morning of October 7, Illarramendi contacted Spain to report that something was wrong: «We are having a dangerous morning. We're fine, but they shot me. “They have entered my house.” At that time, thousands of Hamas terrorists had already been wreaking death in the towns bordering Gaza, mainly the kibbutzim and the Supernova electronic music festival.
The family of his wife, Dafna Garcovich, has been settled in Israeli territory for 30 years. His acquaintances have defined Illarramendi as a “serious, reserved and hard-working boy” committed to the land of his residence to the point that he “learned Hebrew, which is difficult for a foreigner.” In return, he taught them the meaning of 'kaixo', hello in Basque. An Athletic fan, he liked to cook Spanish dishes for his in-laws. In fact, he worked as a cook at another kibbutz located a few minutes away by car that was also attacked. The Basque's alert messages were answered with concern for his environment in Spain: “How ???? Who!????? They have given you??? I shit myself. Get out of that fucking country!!!!
Israeli citizens living near Gaza live with missiles launched by Hamas. They know that they have just a few seconds to stop what they are doing at that moment to go into the strong room that each home has when the alarms sound. But on October 7, no siren sounded, neither intelligence nor the Jewish Army were able to prevent the Hamas incursion. «We are in the safe room. “Don't call me, I don't want to make noise,” Illarramendi asked his acquaintances.
“They threw a grenade at me”
From Spain, they sent him a screenshot of a press report informing that Israel had declared a state of war alert. «No, I have already found out. What happened this morning was amazing,” Illarramendi replied, always according to the WhatsApp conversations reproduced by 'El Confidencial'. «But are you okay? Or has she shot you? Are you physically okay? Illarramendi explained to those close to him that he was injured, but it was not serious: “Yes, we are fine, not a bullet, miraculously, but they threw a grenade at the door and it hurt my arm and shrapnel fell on me.” the chest. The door of the house has a few bullet holes, I know the mirror has been broken and I don't know what else.
Later they tried to connect with him again without success: “How are you doing. Are the military acting or what?”, “Please, Ivan, answer me,” “I'm getting nervous,” “I need to hear you.” These WhatsApp messages accumulated one after another without receiving a response. It was over.
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