Israeli-American teen tells how mother threw herself in front of bullet for him

The son of Israeli-American parents who died as they helped save his life during attacks by militant group Hamas in Israel has spoken out after their deaths.

Deborah Matias, 50, and her husband, Shlomi, were among the more than 1,300 people killed in Israel over the weekend.

Their 16-year-old son, Rotem, witnessed their death after Hamas terrorists broke into the family’s home on Saturday.

The teenager’s mother died after she threw her body on top of her son to protect him as the Hamas militants shot at the family, her father, Ilan Troen, told Boston’s WBZ-TV.

Rotem was shot in the abdomen during the attack but survived, hiding for more than 12 hours after he was shot.

In an interview on Thursday, the 16-year-old told CNN he plans to keep the bullet in honour of his parents.

“I wanted to just keep it as a memory to never forget them and remember that even though it was the hardest and lowest point in my life, I found … some hope that maybe I could live and share the memories, and how I saw my parents, with other people.”

It took several days for the teen to recover from his injury. “I’m able to walk now,” he said. “A few days ago, I couldn’t even stand. The bullet in my stomach has been taken out via surgery, and I’m feeling much, much better.”

Rotem was interviewed alongside his two sisters, Shakked and Shir, and grandfather, Ilan Troen, a professor emeritus at Brandeis University in Massachusetts.

Recounting the day of the attack, Mr Troen recalled his final phone call with his daughter.

“We were on the phone with Deborah as she was killed,” he told CNN. “We were on the phone the entire day with our grandson, Rotem, as he lay first under her body, and then found a place to escape.”

“The brunt of the shot was borne by his mother,” he added.

“The terrorists who came, they had explosives and blew up the front door to their house and then blew out the front door to their so-called safe room.”

Rotem and his sisters were reunited 14 hours after the attack. “I was so worried, and I was so scared,” Shakked said. “No one should ever have to go through that — ever.”

Speaking about her parents, Shir told CNN: “They were very, very brave. They were good people, and they didn’t deserve anything this horrible. None of the people in Israel, none of the foreign citizens who were here or taken deserve any of this.”

Deborah Matias met her husband at the Rimon School of Music in Tel Aviv.

“They wanted to us to be happy, to be whimsical,” Rotem added. “They wanted us to be joyful. They wanted us to be in peace. They didn’t want us to be at a situation like this, and they wanted us to live, more than anything.”

“They won’t die there,” he added. “They won’t die. They will live on in memories and in stories.”

Hamas stormed into Israel early on Saturday morning, killing hundreds of people and taking dozens of captives across the Gaza border in a devastating terror attack that caught the country’s security forces by surprise.

More than 1,300 Israelis were killed in the assault, with thousands more believed to be injured and the number of individuals taken hostage by Hamas currently unclear. At least 27 Americans are among the dead, the White House confirmed.

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces since Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a state of war on Saturday and promised “mighty vengeance”.

On Monday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the “complete siege” of Gaza as authorities cut off electricity and blocked the entry of food and fuel.

And on Friday, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ordered all Gaza civilians to leave the area and head southward — a command that the United Nations said is “impossible” to carry out.