Almog Sarusi, 27: Engineering student planned to propose to girlfriend

Almog Sarusi, 27, from Ra’anana, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7 and murdered in Gaza.

He attended the rave with a group of friends who decided to leave the site of the festival with the start of the rocket fire. All four of them – Danielle Waldman, Noam Shai, Omri Ahrak and Almog’s girlfriend, Shahar Gindi, were murdered, while Almog was kidnapped as he tried to save her.

In a separate car, his friend Alon Werber was murdered and another friend, Guy Illouz, was wounded and taken captive, dying of his wounds in Gaza.

Almog was murdered by his captors on August 29, 2024, alongside Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alex Lobanov, Eden Yerushalmi and Ori Danino. Their bodies were retrieved by the IDF two days later from a tunnel in south Gaza.

Almog was buried in Ra’anana on September 1, 2024. He is survived by his parents, Nira and Yigal, and his younger siblings Amit, Lahav and Shaked.

The oldest in the family, Almog grew up playing soccer and training in karate, and studied Arabic in high school, according to a memorial website. After finishing high school, he enlisted in the IDF and served as a combat soldier in the Givati Brigade, including putting his Arabic to use.

After his release from the army, Almog threw himself into travel, visiting 17 countries, his family said, including the US and destinations in Europe and Asia.

On a trip to India he met Shahar, and the pair quickly became a couple. Almog planned to propose in January 2024, his family said. They were living together near Ariel University where they were both studying; Almog was slated to enter his final year of a civil engineering degree.

“For me, Almog was so much more than a big brother,” his younger sister, Amit, wrote in Ynet in January 2025. “He was another parent, an adviser, a therapist and a soulmate. He instilled in me such optimism and positivity – and in his presence, any worries I had disappeared.”

Amit wrote that she didn’t believe “that somebody could hurt Almog, a person who everyone who met him fell in love with immediately. Almog, who during his civil engineering studies at Ariel would find time to give free math tutoring to kids from struggling families. My brother, who for every holiday would go out and shop for food for needy families and also volunteered in Yedidim, an organization for stranded travelers.

Almog’s younger sister said she wants the world to know the brother that she did, “who knew how to appreciate and give thanks for the little things in life. His friends called him ‘Father Sarusi,’ the leader and the moral compass of their group. He made sure to experience all the goodness the world has to offer – music and nature and people – and he got to experience true love with his girlfriend Shahar Gindi.”

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