Moshe Ami (z"l)
Moshe Ami (z"l)Israel news photo courtesy of the family

Terror rocket victim Moshe Ami, 56, had a “heart of gold,” his close friend said. Shrapnel struck his stomach when a Grad rocket hit his car. He is to be buried in Ashkelon Sunday afternoon.

Ami was returning from a visit to his brother in Petach Tikva, near Tel Aviv, when he heard the Code Red early warning siren, which gives people only a few seconds to take cover. The rocket struck his car after he pulled his vehicle to the side of the road.

He was rushed to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon in moderate condition, but "doctors quickly realized his injury was much more serious than initially estimated. Emergency Room medics said, "The doctors did several things to stop the bleeding and to treat internal injuries, but his condition worsened, until he died of his wounds." He died on the operating table.

Ela Costin, his close friend, said that Ami said on the telephone after the attack that he was “okay” but wounded. "He had a heart of gold. He was a good man who helped everybody and no one had one bad word to say about him," she said.

He is survived by four children.