Brother recounts horror of watching family members killed

Danny Gez, brother of Moshe Gez, who was killed in Thursday's attacks in southern Israel along with his wife, her sister and their brother-in-law, is still coming to grips with his loss. "They shot my brother in the head. I saw him get killed just in front of me and I could not do a thing to save him. We have gone through hell over the weekend and now we are facing the first day of our family tsunami. How can we bury all four people? How can we move on from here-" asked Gez.

The Kralinskys and Gezs had planned to spend the weekend at a hotel in the Sinai resort town of Taba on the border with Eilat. But no one foresaw such a horrendous turn of events. "We were all in such good spirits. My brother Moshe was in the car with his wife and with her sister and husband Dubik. We were driving just behind them. Dubik, who drove ahead of us, had considered driving via the Arava Route (along the Jordanian border) but eventually opted for Route 12 (along the Egyptian border). Who could have thought this would turn out to be such a fateful decision? He picked up pace, creating a 30m (about 90 ft.) gap between us, which in retrospect, was what saved us."

And then the horror began: "Dubik slowed down and was approached by four 'soldiers' with Egyptian military fatigues. I noticed they didn't have the typical white belt. I immediately realized that something was wrong. I told my friend Meir, who was driving: 'Stop. Do not move.' On my left I could see a bus overturned with smoke coming out. It was obvious that I had entered a scene of attack. We felt the first bullet hit one of our tires. I yelled, "We are under fire! Terrorists!" Another shot was fired and then another terrorist shot Dubik in the head. We drove in reverse in panic. The girls were screaming and I yelled at them 'duck!' Before leaving the scene I could see how Moshe, Flora and Shula were shot multiple times at point blank range. There was nothing I could do. I could also see the terrorists verifying their kills."

Danny Gez has harsh criticism for the security forces' behavior on the scene: "No one debriefed me or asked me any questions. Perhaps I could have saved the lives of some of the [other] victims? There was a threat warning for Route 12, but the road was not cordoned off. This is criminal on the part of the army and police and must be investigated," he said in sorrow.

Flora and Moshe Gez were laid to rest together with the Kralinskys at Kfar Saba's Pardes Hayim cemetery on Sunday.