In the terror attack on Sunday on Route 35 near the Tarqumiya checkpoint, north of Hebron, three police officers were killed, including 1st Sgt. Roni Shakuri. Roni’s daughter, 1st Sgt. Mor Shakuri, was killed in the battle for the Sderot police station on October 7.
Oren Ohana, Roni Shakuri’s brother-in-law, described him as “an amazing person, special, an angel in human form – honest, modest, always caring for others. Mor was everything to him, and after she was killed, he wasn’t really living anymore. He withdrew into himself but slowly learned to cope.”
“A few days ago, we returned from a cruise abroad with him and his wife," Ohana continued. "They allowed themselves to smile and breathe again for the first time. He suddenly started to believe in happiness again – and this morning, we learned of his murder. The family is not in a good place; we’re trying to process what happened, but I don’t think we ever will.”
David Pokal, Mor Shakuri’s partner, who lost her in the battle in Sderot, spoke about Roni, her father. “He was like a father to me. I spoke to him last night; there isn’t a day we didn’t talk. Last night, he asked me to come over on Saturday, but I told him I couldn’t and promised to visit the following Saturday. We were about to hang up, and he told me to call him on my way to work for my shift since he’d also be on the road, and we could talk again. I called him at 7 a.m., but he didn’t answer. When I saw the reports, I immediately knew it was him,” he said.
Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi extended his condolences to the family. “Together with all the residents of Sderot and the people of Israel, I share in the grief of the families and feel the profound sorrow over the loss of 1st Sgt. Roni Shakuri, who was killed this morning in the horrific attack in Tarqumiya. Roni had tragically lost his daughter, Mor, a police officer who fell on October 7 during the battle at the Sderot police station. My thoughts are with the IDF soldiers and commanders who are fighting bravely,” he said in a statement.
Roni’s other daughter and Mor’s sister, Sapir Shitrit, shared that Mor “always wanted to serve the country. When she decided to join the police, no one was surprised. I knew it was the perfect fit for her – she was a true fighter.”
Reflecting on the battle Mor fought in Sderot, she added that Mor "went up to the roof with a few other officers. They fought the terrorists from there, but no one came to help or rescue them. During the battle, she called my mom and spoke with a calmness and strength I don’t know where she found. She said, ‘If something happens to me, I want you to know I love you and Dad, and take care of Sapir.’"
“She managed to recite the ‘Song of Ascents’ and ‘Shema Yisrael’ before a sniper from the opposite roof shot her, and she died instantly,” Sapir recounted. “I so wanted to see her under the wedding canopy. She was so looking forward to that moment, to building her own home and becoming a mother, but she never got the chance.”