Just before Hamas stormed Israel on Saturday, a musical festival was taking place around three miles from the border shared with Gaza. Here, folks like Alexandre Look were enjoying an evening with friends both new and old. Then, during a call with his parents, Alain and Raquel Look, gunfire rang out. Hamas had begun to attack.
Alexandre stayed on the video call with his parents while he and 30 others quickly and desperately searched for nearby shelter to keep them all hidden. Eventually, they were able to locate a bomb shelter.
An Israeli security guard urged them to stay in place, with Alexandre offering to be their lookout. Soon, he spotted a white pickup with a large group coming right in their direction.
The next day, a friend of Alexandre’s was able to confirm for his parents what they had feared happened, based on what they gathered from the video call. In order to give everyone else enough time to get away, Alexandre left the safety of their shelter to distract Hamas.
“I swear to you he was our shield,” a friend of Alexandre told his parents. “If it wasn’t for him all 30 of us would be dead.”
Since learning of their son’s heroic death, they’ve received an outpouring of love from the Jewish community in Montreal, where they live. And as they wait for the Israeli authorities to return their son’s body home to them, they’ve made it their mission to honor his name and his brave, life-saving actions.
‘He’s a hero,” Raquel said. “We wish he was less of a hero, [because] he may still be here. We promise that we will respect his legacy and people will know his name.”
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