Thousands of mourners gathered in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak near the Gaza border on Wednesday to attend the funeral of Tal Haimi, whose body was returned to Israel days prior, after it was held by Hamas in Gaza for over two years.

Haimi, 41, who was the head of Nir Yitzhak’s civil defense squad, was killed while defending his community on October 7, 2023, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip.

He and other members of the rapid response team battled the invading terrorists at the entrance to the kibbutz until he was shot dead. In December 2023, Tal’s family was informed based on intelligence that he had been killed on October 7 and his body was taken hostage.

Tal is survived by his wife, Ela, and their four children: Nir, Einav, Udi and Lotan. Lotan was born in May 2024, seven months after Tal was killed.

Haimi was buried in the kibbutz by his family, who returned to live in the community several months ago.

Ela said in her eulogy that she had planned this day “so many times, waited for it for so long.”

When she was notified by the IDF that her husband had been killed, she held a symbolic funeral and sat shiva, burying his bloodied helmet in order to offer her young children a sense of closure.

“I........

© The Times of Israel