A group of NBA and NFL players came together to make this boy’s 13th birthday as special as possible.

By Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner

A group of professional football and basketball players have come together to record a birthday video message for Ariel Zohar, a young sports fan whose entire family was murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7 during the terrorist organization’s deadly rampage in southern Israel.

Zohar’s mother Yasmin, 49; father Yaniv, 54; two sisters —Tehelet, 20, and Keshet, 18; and his maternal grandmother, Haim Livne, were killed by Hamas terrorists in their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip. Ariel survived because he went out for an early-morning jog the morning of the attack and was not home during the Hamas invasion.

A joint funeral service for his family members took place on Oct. 17 in the city of Rishon LeTsiyon, and Zohar was surrounded at the funeral by his extended family including his grandfather, who is a Holocaust survivor. An estimated 1,000 people attended the funeral, according to reports.

For his upcoming 13th birthday, Zohar received a video message from professional NBA and NFL athletes after his friend told them about what happened to the boy’s family. The athletes featured in the video include football players Dez Bryant and DeSean Jackson; basketball player Tyler Herro, Isaiah Thomas, Terrance Mann, Marcus Morris, Michael Porter Jr.; and former basketball player Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

“I just want to wish you a happy 13th birthday,” said Herro, from the Miami Heat. “My prayers are with you. I hope you keep your head high and enjoy this amazing day you turn 13. You have our support here in Miami and God bless you, and I hope you have an amazing day.”

Jackson urged the bar mitzvah boy to “stay strong during these tough times,” and added, “I’m saluting you. You got it, brother. We all with you. Much love, bro.”

“I can’t describe what you’ve been going through,” Davis said. “I just know that I’m praying for you for healing, praying for you for a great, bright future, and we love you, man … I love you, Ariel. Happy birthday my man. Keep your head up, bro. We’re supporting you.”

Zohar’s extended family said the orphaned boy will be raised by his aunt and that he and his surviving family members aim to celebrate his bar mitzvah as planned.

Yaniv Zohar, the boy’s father, worked as a video journalist for the Associated Press’ Israel bureau for 15 years and then for Israel Hayom. He was the first newsperson on the scene when Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted by Palestinian terrorists in 2006.

The post WATCH: US athletes send ‘happy birthday’ video message to Israeli boy whose family was killed by Hamas appeared first on World Israel News.