MANILA — A 25-year-old Filipina and her Israeli family have been identified as the victims of a direct Iranian ballistic missile strike that destroyed their ground-floor apartment in Haifa, Israel, on Sunday evening, April 5.
Local press in Israel identified the Filipina victim as Lucille Jean, who died alongside her husband of two years, 42-year-old Dima Gershovich, and her parents-in-law, Vladimir Gershovich, 73, and Lena Ostrovsky, 68. The family was reportedly dining at sunset in their five-story building on the slopes of Mount Carmel when the projectile, fired from roughly 1,200 miles northeast, struck their living room.
While the missile carried a payload of hundreds of kilograms of explosives, it failed to detonate. However, the sheer kinetic impact of the projectile pounded the building like a pile driver, killing the family of four instantly. Army bomb disposal experts have since been deployed to deactivate the warhead amid the wreckage overlooking historic Haifa Bay.
“They were two elderly people, one of their sons, and their daughter-in-law,” reported Colonel Dovev Viess of the Home Front command, speaking near the severely damaged facade where an air conditioning unit hung by a single cable. Surrounded by a massive deployment of emergency responders and religious leaders recovering remains, Viess noted that the missile could have caused a massacre had it exploded. “Only one man, around 80 years old, has been admitted to Ranban Hospital in Haifa in critical condition,” the officer added, confirming that 10 other residents sustained only minor injuries.
In Manila, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Tuesday, April 7, the casualty and is coordinating efforts to bring the victim home. “The Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv has informed the family and is providing all necessary assistance, including arrangements for the earliest possible repatriation of her remains despite the current travel situation in the region,” the DFA said in a statement.
The tragedy marks the second Filipino casualty in Israel since February 28, when escalating joint military operations by the United States and Israel against Iranian nuclear sites prompted retaliatory strikes from Tehran. The first Filipino fatality in the ongoing conflict was previously identified as Mary Ann Velasquez De Vera, a caregiver.
The Embassy of the State of Israel in the Philippines also released a statement regarding the incident. “Israel stands in profound solidarity with the bereaved family and the Filipino community, and shares in the grief over the loss of a Filipino life. We mourn together and honor their memory with dignity,” the embassy stated.| Sheenalei Briana Rayos
