Ofir Tzarfati was at the Nova festival celebrating his 27th birthday when he was taken by Hamas, in the attacks on October 7, 2023. This will be the third time that his family will have to bury him.
His body was initially recovered by Israel in December 2023, in a military operation in the Gaza Strip. In March 2024, new remains were identified, and the coffin was opened in a second funeral ceremony. Now, it will be reopened.
In a statement, cited by the newspaper Jerusalem Postthe Tzarfati family expressed hope that another family could finally end an agonizing two-year chapter with the recovery of yet another body — Hamas has yet to return 13.
“This is the third time that we have been forced to open Ophir’s grave and bury our son again. The circle supposedly ‘closed’ in December 2023, but it never truly closes”the family wrote. “Since then, we have lived with a wound that constantly reopens, between memory and longing, between mourning and the mission.”
The family speaks of a new “disappointment”, even more so because they saw a video (it was reportedly filmed with an Israeli military drone) that shows Hamas digging a grave, placing their son’s remains there, and then calling the Red Cross to assist his supposed recovery. “An abominable manipulation designed to sabotage the agreement and abandon efforts to bring all hostages home”says the statement.