Family of Girl, 12, Missing After Hamas Attack Holds Funeral Without Body Because House Was Burned to Ashes

A funeral ceremony was held without a body Wednesday for a 12-year-old Israeli girl who's believed to have been killed in a house that was burned to the ground during one of the Hamas terror attacks that sparked the ongoing war.

Liel Hetzroni's grief-stricken relatives decided to bury some of her personal possessions in lieu of her remains, family member Omri Shifroni told Israel's Ynet News website.

"We are holding a farewell ceremony for Liel because the situation is unbearable," Shifroni said.

They included a box of ashes from the house in the burial because, "maybe there is some Liel in there," one family member reportedly said.

A video clip posted on X, formerly Twitter, showed a group of mourners walking behind black caskets covered with Israeli flags and floral wreaths as they were carried on the back of a motorized cart.

"It is not a burial because there is no body," wrote Keren Neubach, a podcaster for Israel's public broadcaster, Kan.

"The family decided on the ceremony because until now no official has informed the family what happened to Liel."

On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists broke into the home in Kibbutz Be'eri where Liel and her twin brother, Yanai, were being raised by grandfather Avi Hetzroni and aunt Ayala "Ayelet" Hetzroni, according to Ynet.

Avi Hetrzoni was reportedly killed on the spot and the kids and their aunt were taken to another house where other families were being held.

Everyone inside was slaughtered and the house was set ablaze but Liel's body hasn't been found, according to Ynet.

"Not even one of them came out alive from that terror attack. She was murdered along with Ayelet and Yanai," Shifroni said.

"As a secular family, we know they were murdered and the official confirmation is less important to us."

A survivor of the attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, Yasmin Porat, said of Liel, "I estimate that she was completely burned, they didn't kidnap her, they didn't get out of there alive," according to a message posted on X by the Kan Reshet Bet radio network.

Kibbutz Be'eri, located about 2 1/2 miles from the Gaza border, was the scene of some of the worst reported Hamas atrocities, including a shelter in which 20 people were burned to death, some while hugging each other

A family of four was found around their dining room table with their hands tied behind their backs, bullet holes in the back of their heads and signs of torture. Some slain children were found with knives still stuck in them.

An elite Israeli commando unit also suffered heavy casualties when it arrived and took five hours to defeat the estimated 90 Hamas terrorists who massacred more than 100 residents.

About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, Israel has said.

Israeli counterstrikes against Hamas in Gaza have reportedly killed more than 11,000 people, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.