Crime & Safety
Bergen County 'Beautiful Boy' Killed In Israel Fighting, Family Says
A young soldier from Bergen County has died in the Hamas attacks in Israel, NJ Gov. Phil Murphy and reports said. Another is missing.
BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — One young Bergen County native has died and another is still missing after Hamas terrorists unleashed a weekend of slaughter in Israel, Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed on Wednesday.
Family members of Itay Glisko, 20, who was born in Paramus, called him a "beautiful boy" in a Daily Beast story after finding out that he had died during the attacks.
Glisko, family members said, moved with his family at a young age from Bergen County to Israel, and joined the Israel Defense Forces for his mandated three-year enlistment.
Find out what's happening in Ridgewood-Glen Rockfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
He died saving other soldiers, they said.
Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed the death in a Tweet late on Wednesday.
Find out what's happening in Ridgewood-Glen Rockfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"We are heartbroken to learn that 20-year-old Itay Glisko, who spent his early years in Paramus, tragically lost his life during the attacks in Israel," Murphy wrote. "My deepest condolences are with Itay’s family during this painful time."
Two Others Missing From NJ
Meanwhile, Edan Alexander, 19, a graduate of Tenafly High School who's serving in the Israeli Defense Forces, is still among those missing.
Alexander was serving near the Gaza border during the attacks, Gov. Phil Murphy said at a vigil in Hoboken Tuesday evening.
And on Thursday, relatives of Mercer County native Laor Abramov said he had died in Israel.
Abramov was a DJ who was attending a music festival over the weekend, relatives said.
His parents had received phone calls from him saying he'd gone to a bomb shelter. They never heard from him again.
"We need him to come back," his mother said on TV earlier this week. "We need someone to go there and bring our babies back. It could be anybody's child. I'm a mother. He went there to dance."
On Saturday, the militant group Hamas killed 700 Israelis, including children, and kidnapped hundreds of others off the street.
Among those killed were more than 200 attending the music festival, according to international media reports.
Saturday was the bloodiest day in Israel since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago, the BBC reported.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
