On October 7, Oron Bira, 54, his wife Yasmin, 51, and their daughters Tair, 23, and Tahal, 15, were inside their home in Kibbutz Be’eri. Their son Yehav, 20, a soldier, was staying in another home in the kibbutz.
As more than 100 terrorists stormed Be’eri, the family locked themselves inside their safe room. Yasmin messaged her sister Dalia, telling her that terrorists had entered the kibbutz and that she was afraid.
At 10:58 a.m., Tair spoke with her brother Yehav from the safe room. Over the phone, he could hear shouting and gunfire. It was the last time he heard from his family.
Oron, Yasmin, Tair, and Tahal were murdered. Their beloved dog, Poncho, who had been part of the family for years and was especially loved by Tahal, was also killed.
Eleven days later, the bodies of all four were found and identified in an area near the kibbutz. Oron’s brother, Tal, was also murdered at his home in Be’eri.
Yehav became the only surviving member of his immediate family.
Their home was left devastated. It had been destroyed and looted. The area around the safe room was riddled with bullet holes, and the gunfire was so intense that even the safe-room door was bent.
Those who knew Oron and Yasmin’s home remembered how beautiful and carefully kept it had always been. After October 7, almost nothing of that home - or the family who filled it - remained.