‘He was murdered saving people,’ says mother of Montreal man killed in Hamas attack on Israel

Montreal mom Raquel Ohnona Look was on a video call with her son while he was attempting to evade Hamas gunmen on Saturday.

She could hear young women screaming and crying in the background. She told her son to listen to Israeli authorities. She told him to hide.

“And then I heard him tell his friends, ‘They’re coming back. There’s a lot of them. And then all I heard was a lot of gunshots, lots of rounds and then we heard nothing,” she said.

She strained to listen with her husband. The couple then heard sound of people chanting: “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic expression that roughly translates as “Allah is greatest,” and which can be heard in video recordings linked to Saturday’s carnage that have since been posted online.

“I knew,” Raquel Look recalled. “I said, ‘They’re killing my son as we speak.'”

Alexandre Look, 33, was among thousands in attendance at an outdoor techno music festival near the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday when it was attacked by the militant group, his family told CBC News in their Montreal home.

About 260 bodies were removed from the festival following the ambush. 

Fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military continues in Gaza this week, and Canada has joined other countries in condemning the violence and warning citizens in the region to take precautions.

WATCH | Alexandre Look’s mother recounts last phone call: 

Featured VideoWarning: This video contains distressing details. Montreal’s Alexandre Look was among the hundreds killed when Hamas gunmen attacked an outdoor music festival near the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday. His mother, Raquel Ohnona Look, describes the final video call he made to her while he was sheltering in a bunker.

He died protecting others, survivors say

Alain Haim Look, Alex’s father, said the family is still waiting for the Israeli government to confirm his son’s death, and that they’re trying to get his body home.

Some 30 people took shelter in a bunker with Alex, and two of the survivors have since communicated with Alex’s parents in video recordings that have been reviewed by CBC News.

The bunker was designed to protect against rockets, but had no door. So he shielded them, the survivors recounted, barricading the entrance with his own body. 

“He was our shield. I swear to you, he was our shield. If it wasn’t for him, all 30 of us in there would be dead,” a woman in the video recording tells Look’s parents. Another woman in the recording said she had seen Look’s body riddled with bullets after the shooting.

Neither Israeli nor Canadian authorities have confirmed Look’s death. His parents are concerned his body may take time to identify after the explosions and shooting, delaying the Jewish tradition of mourning after burial.

“He was murdered saving people,” Raquel Look said.

On one hand, she’s proud of her son’s courage, but on the other, Raquel Looks said she wishes he could have been less of a hero and saved his own life.

Alex described as a ‘force of nature’

“Alex was a force of nature, endowed with a unique charisma and unparalleled generosity,” Alain Look wrote in a Facebook post announcing his son’s death Saturday, accompanied by several photos of the two together.

“Like a true warrior, he died like a hero, wanting to protect the people he was with.”

Raquel Look said her son, a Canadian citizen, had more recently been living in Cabo, Mexico, managing a cosmetic business he owned. With this being a slower time of year for his business, he was vacationing in Israel with friends. He had been there a couple months.

She described her son as having a big heart, always surrounding himself with people since he was a little boy. He was generous, she said, and always helped others. Alain Look said his son was the type to give the shirt off his back or go hungry to ensure others had clothing and food.

Among those mourning Alex’s death is his younger sister, Kayla Look, who lives in Montreal. Raquel Look said her daughter is inconsolable and hasn’t come out of her room.

“I felt those gunshots,” Raquel Look said, recounting the horror of the last video call with her son. “They destroyed our life. We will never know the same happiness in our life again. They broke our family.”

Community comes together to help family

Devorah Shanowitz, program director and educator at the Chabad of Westmount, said there’s “a tremendous sense of shock and a deep sense of grieving” in the Jewish organization, which Look’s parents are a part of.

“They’re wonderful people, they’re kind, generous, positive,” she said in a phone interview with CBC News.

“I think what made this all the more shocking is that you just wouldn’t expect that something would happen like that when a kid is out just travelling, going to a concert.

“He was just a normal young man trying to enjoy a slice of life in a very normal way.”

The Chabad has created a fundraiser for the Look family as well as a campaign to spread acts of kindness in honour of the victim. 

“We’re encouraging our community to bring light into this world, to fight with light,” Shanowitz said. 

On Facebook, Chabad of Westmount wrote, “We join our brothers and sisters here in Westmount, and the world over in mourning the devastation that has befallen our people and our land.” 

Global Affairs Canada has not confirmed Alex’s death, but said Sunday it is working to confirm reports of a Canadian who died and two others who are missing following the attacks.