Tamir Adar, 38, was killed while fighting against the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, and his body was abducted into Gaza. His fate was not known for several months, until his family was informed on January 5 that he had been killed in the attack and his body kidnapped to Gaza, where it remains.

The family sat shiva for Tamir. On the morning of October 7, Tamir set out to support the kibbutz’s local security team when news of the invasion began to arrive. He told his wife and children to stay locked in their reinforced room. His grandmother, Yaffa Adar, was also kidnapped that day — immortalized in one of the most enduring images of the attack — and released 48 days later.

Tamir is survived by his wife, Hadas, children Asaf, 7 and Neta, 3, his parents Yael and Moshe, and three siblings, Nir, Inbar and Roni, as well as several grandparents. A notice from the kibbutz announcing his death noted that he was a “family man, who loved nature and people. He was a devoted fan of Maccabi Tel Aviv and was always surrounded by friends.”

His cousin, Adva Adar, wrote on Facebook: “Tamush, your smile will continue to light the way for us. Thank you for fighting until you couldn’t anymore in a battle that was lost from the start. You protected the kibbutz, your family and the home you loved so much. I’m sorry it ended this way.” His brother, Nir, noted that on Tamir’s front door, was a sticker which read “There is no grumbling here — we just say thank you and charge ahead with life.”

The sticker, Nir wrote on Facebook, “feels like he left me his final wishes. I hope I will succeed and I promise to try.” In the past, Tamir worked for the Ramon Foundation — established in the memory of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon to encourage youth to explore science and aviation — as a social leader in a local school.

The foundation described him as a “role model and source of inspiration. He worked with great dedication, and invested deep thought in every process, becoming a significant figure not just for the kids but for all of us.”

In recent years, he left to work in agriculture in Nir Oz, which had always been his lifelong dream, his family said. He was born and raised in Nir Oz, wrote his mother in Maariv, “a third generation in the kibbutz, a farmer, an educator, who loved the land and the people.” Since the news of his death, she wrote, “We have been doing everything in our power to bring Tamir home to be buried here, in the land he loved, the land of Nir Oz. Tamir is worthy of this. Tamir believed that he was doing the right thing because we are all responsible for each other.”

Source: The Times of Israel