Ofir Tzarfati, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7 and taken to Gaza, has been positively identified via forensic identification after his remains were returned to Israel on Monday.
Tzarfati, of Kiryat Ata, attended the festival alongside his partner, Shoval, and other close friends to celebrate his 27th birthday.
The Tzarfati family has had a particularly unique experience regarding the return of his remains – his October 27 repatriation was the third in his case.
Initially, his body was brought back to Israel from Gaza in December 2023. Israeli authorities confirmed his remains, but in March 2024, additional remains were found and identified as belonging to Tzarfati.
In August 2024, Hamas published a photograph of Tzarfati’s slain body in a psychological warfare campaign.
On Monday, additional remains were returned and confirmed as the deceased hostage. As a result, his casket will be reopened for further burial.
Tzarfati family bears another 'deception'
In a statement, the Tzarfati family expressed that they hoped another family would finally be able to close an agonizing two-year chapter, bringing their loved one home for burial.
“Once again, deception has been inflicted upon our family as we try to heal. This morning, we were shown video footage of our beloved son’s remains being removed and handed over to the Red Cross, an abhorrent manipulation designed to sabotage the deal and abandon the effort to bring all the hostages home,” the statement said.
“This is the third time we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly ‘closed’ back in December 2023, but it never truly closes,” his family wrote. “Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between bereavement and mission.”
Tzarfati’s family emphasized that he went to the festival to celebrate life – his birthday – yet he never returned. “We ask all the people of Israel not to forget the fallen, not to forget the hostages, and to continue supporting the families until their return and beyond. Only then will we have a future. Only then can we continue to live in our country.”