Rehovot man dies month after wife killed by Gaza rocket: ‘He was very sad’

Sergei Avramyan, whose wife was killed when a rocket fired from Gaza hit their home in Rehovot last month, died on Thursday at age 86.

Family members said that while Sergei was only lightly hurt in the rocket attack, his physical and mental condition deteriorated quickly in the weeks following his wife’s death.

“I think psychologically it affected him, what happened with grandma,” the couple’s grandson, Adam Torossian, told the Walla news site. “It’s difficult right now [for the family] with everything that happened, one after the other. After what happened with grandma, grandpa’s situation deteriorated. He was very sad when she was killed.”

Inga, 82, was killed in mid-May by a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad during a flareup in violence between Israel and Gaza known as Operation Shield and Arrow.

She served as a caregiver to Sergei, who had limited mobility since a car accident left him partially paralyzed and with a leg amputated. Inga was killed as she was trying to help Sergei reach shelter after the air raid siren went off.

The IDF later blamed a malfunction in its Iron Dome missile defense system for failing to intercept the rocket.

Family and friends attend the funeral of Inga Avramyan, 82, in Kibbutz Givat Brenner in southern Israel, May 15, 2023. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)

The couple immigrated to Israel from Armenia 30 years ago, and are survived by two children and five grandchildren. They had been married for more than 50 years.

Shortly after Inga was killed, her grandson Arthur said that the couple were very devoted to each other.

“I don’t know what my grandfather will do without her,” Arthur told Channel 12 news last month. “He communicated only with her. She was his whole life. There was a love between them that you don’t see every day.”