Amit Cohen, 25: Shielded girlfriend and her sister until the end
Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7
Amit Cohen, 25, from Jerusalem, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
Cohen went to the festival with his girlfriend Norelle Manzuri, a dual US-Israeli citizen from Hod Hasharon.
The two met while traveling after their army service, and had recently moved into an apartment together in Hod Hasharon. Manzuri worked as a waitress while Cohen worked for the RE/MAX real estate company.
Amit’s mother Orly Cohen told Channel 13 that he was planning to propose marriage to Manzuri on her birthday, February 5.
“He was a person who was always smiling,” Orly said. “He was always surrounded by friends.”
Cohen and Manzuri loved to dance and were excited to attend the Supernova festival as a last hurrah before the country returned to its normal work schedule after the Jewish holidays, according to Channel 13.
Shay Shemesh, a close friend of Cohen and Manzuri who survived the Supernova massacre, explained in a series of social media posts that while she went to the festival in a private car, her friends had organized a bus to take them in a large group. This unfortunately meant that Amit and Norelle did not have an easily accessible vehicle when it came time to leave on Saturday morning.
After spending Friday night dancing and enjoying themselves, the pair woke on Saturday to rocket sirens and eventually hid, along with Norelle’s sister Roya and dozens of other terrified partygoers, inside a roadside bomb shelter near the site of the festival.
It was there that Amit, his girlfriend Norelle and her sister Roya were all slain when Hamas terrorists fired inside and threw grenades into the structure. Of the 40 people tightly packed into the shelter that day, 24 were killed according to Channel 13.
“I am proud of my son,” Orly Cohen told Channel 13. “He stood there, he took care of the girls, he didn’t leave them alone. As far as I’m concerned, Amit is a hero.”
Recovered video footage taken minutes before their death showed Cohen sitting on the floor of the shelter with Norelle on one side and Roya on the other, holding them both in his arms while he kept watch over them.
“He sits on the floor,” Orly said, describing the last moments of her son’s life. “He put his hands on the heads of Norelle and Roya, holding them bent over [so they would not see anything] but he stayed upright. His gaze — I will carry that gaze with me until my dying day.”