I CAN'T BELIEVE THE NEWS TODAY
OH, I CAN'T CLOSE MY EYES AND MAKE IT GO AWAY

>>212801428

The echoes of sirens and the crash of missile strikes shattered the early morning calm on June 13 in Rishon LeZion, one of Israel’s largest cities. Among the buildings damaged in the sudden barrage by Iranian ballistic missiles was a modest residential block on Rothschild Street. It was there that Shahar Mazuchinsky, a 42-year-old dual citizen of Israel and Romania, was believed to have been killed when a missile hit the adjacent structure. Mazuchinsky, a software engineer had been preparing to go to the store just minutes before the blast. “He always told us not to panic and nothing ever happens,” said his neighbor, Alina, speaking from Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, where Shahar was being treated for injuries. “But this time, the explosion was too close“. The window blew in, and he collapsed motionless on the ground. Shahar was struck in the back and shoulder by shards of glass and masonry as well as missile shrapnel, suffering severe injuries. Doctors say they fought as much as they could but he didn't recover. His story, however, is emblematic of the many quiet lives upended by an intensifying regional conflict. Neighbors describe him as a gentle soul who straddled two cultures with pride. Born in Haifa to a Romanian mother and Israeli father, he often joked about being “twice the patriot.” He spent his early 30s in Bucharest, where he developed a love for hiking the Carpathians and drinking Turkish coffee on quiet Sunday mornings. “He was never one for politics,” said longtime friend Doru Petrescu, reached by phone in Cluj-Napoca. “Shahar believed that technology, learning, and understanding could bridge even the widest divides.” Rishon LeZion was one of several Israeli cities targeted in what officials are calling one of the most direct and severe escalations by Iran in recent years. The attacks, part of a broader confrontation playing out across the Middle East, have thrust ordinary civilians like Shahar into the center of the turmoil.