August 3, 2006 – Albert Ben-Abu, 41, of Acco, was killed, along with seven other civilians, when Hizbullah terrorists fired a salvo of Katyusha rockets at the northern Israeli coastal city.
Albert Ben-Abu lived in the same apartment building as the Zaribi family, whose father Shimon and daughter Mazal, were also among those killed.
Three years ago, Albert became newly religious, according to friends, and since then had spent most of his time helping others. “He was a man of gold,” said one of his neighbors. “He would help anyone who asked, and would encourage others to join him. He worked for the State Bailiff, and when he would visit people to repossess their property, he would see that they had no food and would give them money out of his own pocket to buy themselves food.”
On Friday the Ben-Abu family sat shiva in the building's bomb shelter even as crews cleaned up the street outside and social workers roamed the halls. When a warning siren went off, one of Albert's sons stood in the hallway praying.
Standing outside the apartment wearing a shirt torn as a part of the mourning ritual, Yossi Ben-Abu described his brother Albert as a good person who did everything he could for others.
Albert worked with computers and had served in Lebanon in the 1980s, said Yossi. He showed pictures of Albert holding his newborn son last year during the circumcision ceremony, including one with Albert draped in a prayer shawl.
When he heard of the attack, Yossi came to the apartment and found Albert's wife Hagit. She had been trying to mop up his blood with a towel, and knew only that her husband had been wounded and taken away.
Yossi said they searched for him in the WesternGalileeHospital in Nahariya only to find that he had been taken to RambamMedicalCenter in Haifa for surgery. He drove there with Hagit.
"We had just entered the emergency room when the hospital called to say that he had died," recalled Yossi.
Hagit is a social worker for the Municipality of Acco. She has spent the past three weeks helping other residents deal with the pressures and fears of living under the threat of missiles.
Albert Ben-Abu was buried in Acco. He is survived by his wife Hagit, and five children, two sons and three daughters aged 1-15.