British family with baby hid in safe room for 9 hours as Hamas destroyed home, village

A British family living in Israel hid with their 10-day-old baby inside a safe room for nine hours while Hamas burnt down their home and destroyed their village near the Gaza Strip, according to a report.

Aimee and Uriel Labban, UK-Israeli citizens, were living a normal life while raising their newborn son Kai in Nirim when their entire reality was upended by violence on Saturday morning.

Along with various attacks across the Gaza Strip, the Labban’s hometown was raided by Hamas terrorists, who killed the family’s dog and torched their home and car, The Telegraph reported.

“They ran straight to the safe room. They can literally hear the terrorists,” relative Russell Langer told the UK outlet. ” [The] room has been filled with smoke, so they basically lifted the baby up to the window to get fresh air.” 

The Labbans, along with grandmother Deborah Mintz, weathered the terror for nine hours, fearing that they would be killed if they tried to flee the safe room.

Langer said he stayed in contact with the family via text, learning about how close the terrorists were to them and the death of the family’s beloved dog, Mickey.

Fortunately, the Labbans were able to wait out the terrorists and were eventually rescued by the IDF, who escorted the family and neighbors to a shelter.

“Baby Kai appears to be okay, but [he is] a bit covered in soot,” Langer said.

The Labbans story is only one of many suffered by Israelis and foreigners alike near The Gaza Strip.

Emma Segev, 50, from England’s Eastbourne, said her sister-in-law also tried hiding inside her home along with her four children when Hamas invaded Be’eri.

But like with the Labbans, the terrorists began burning the house.

“Eventually the heat in the room got so intense they thought they would be burned alive and fled,” Segev told The Telegraph. “I don’t know how they got out but they are hiding in the bushes.”

It remains unclear how many foreigners were killed or captured as a result of the Hamas attack, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there have been multiple reports of dead and missing Americans in Israel.