Four members of the Gershovitz family identified as victims of Haifa missile attack

Tributes pour in for Lena Ostrovsky Gershovitz, a veteran acting teacher and doyenne of the theater community, killed alongside husband Vladimir, son Dimitri, and his wife Lucille Jane

The victims of the deadly Iranian ballistic missile attack on Haifa were identified on Monday as four members of the same family: husband and wife Vladimir Gershovitz and Lena Ostrovsky Gershovitz, their son Dimitri, or Dima, Gershovitz, and Dima’s wife, Lucille-Jane Gershovitz.

Vladimir, 73, Lena, 68, Dima, 42, and Lucille-Jane, 29, were killed when a ballistic missile fired from Iran slammed into an apartment building in the northern city on Sunday afternoon.

Their bodies were pulled from the wreckage after an intense, complex overnight search, with rescuers recovering the final body some 18 hours after the missile hit.

When news of their identities was released, tributes poured in, particularly for Lena Ostrovsky Gershovitz, a beloved veteran teacher at the Nissan Nativ Acting Studio in Jerusalem and doyenne of the theater community.

Ostrovsky “nurtured generations of actors with dedication, professionalism, and, foremost, a great love for the work and for her students,” the Israeli Actors Association said in a statement mourning her death.

Culture Minister Miki Zohar paid tribute to Lena on X, noting the impact she had on the “generations of actors who passed through her studio.”

“Every one of the murdered civilians is a world unto themselves. I send my condolences to the families of the murdered and their loved ones. May their memory be blessed,” he said.

“She was a mythological teacher. There were not many actors in the country who did not know her,” said actress and theater director Keren Tsur.

According to Ynet, Dimitri and Lucille-Jane had traveled up to Haifa on Sunday from their home in Herzliya to escort Vladimir home after an extended hospital stay, just hours before the missile hit his home.

“Dima managed to bring Vladimir back from the hospital, and, unfortunately, the missile hit the residence, killing the four of them. All the floors collapsed on the first floor where they lived,” a friend of the family recounted.

Dima, an only child to his Ukrainian immigrant parents, married Lucille-Jane in April 2024, Israel Hayom reported. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Israel after meeting Dima in her home country.

A friend of the family told Ynet that Lucille-Jane had initially been scared to move to Israel, but she ultimately “chose to follow their love.”

“They dreamed of a family and children — dreams that will no longer come true,” the friend said.

In a statement carried by Hebrew media outlets, relatives of the family remembered them as people “with hearts of gold.”

“They were always kind and courteous to everyone they met. They loved life, loved culture, and loved to travel. They left a mark of light wherever they went,” the family recounted. “We as a family are heartbroken. Losing them is a terrible tragedy.”

President Isaac Herzog offered his deepest condolences to the Gershovitz family on X, calling them, “a wonderful family that was wiped out in an instant by a criminal Iranian missile last night in Haifa.” He also thanked the fire and rescue team and Haifa municipality, which acted with “full dedication and professionalism” on the scene.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett recounted on X that he had grown up in a home only minutes from the Gershovitz family.

“It’s hard to grasp how the complete lives of four people were simply obliterated in an instant. All that there was is no more. The pain is too great to bear. May their memory be blessed,” he wrote.

The warhead of the missile did not explode on impact, but the kinetic energy from the strike caused several floors of the building to collapse, burying the four victims under rubble. An Israeli Air Force probe found that the missile was not intercepted because the projectile broke up in the air.

The Kan public broadcaster’s news reported that the family did not have time to enter the building’s shelter before the missile strike. The Home Front Command said the four were found at the bottom of the building, near the stairwell.

The ballistic missile strike that killed the four family members also left an 82-year-old man seriously wounded.

A 78-year-old woman was also lightly to moderately wounded, and two others — a 38-year-old woman and a 10-month-old baby — were both lightly wounded, the latter with a head injury.

A spokesperson for the Rambam Health Care Campus said Monday that the 82-year-old man had undergone surgery and was sedated and ventilated.

More than 500 ballistic missiles have been launched from Iran at Israel since the start of the war.

Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, to degrade the Iranian regime’s military capabilities; distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs; and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the military and other Israeli leaders have said.

Since the war began on February 28, 20 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel in Iranian ballistic missile attacks, along with four Palestinians in the West Bank.