Amitay Malihi, 20: ‘Endlessly playful’ despite his struggles

Amitay Malihi, 20, from Rosh Ha’ayin, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.

He was considered missing for two days before his body was found, and he was buried on October 9 at the Rosh Ha’ayin Cemetery.

Based on evidence found at the scene, authorities surmised that Malihi and several friends tried to escape the festival in a car and crashed into a tree. Two of the group managed to escape to safety; Malihi and one other did not.

Malihi’s brother Avishay wrote in an October 10 Instagram post that the Hamas terrorists mutilated his body when they killed him.

He is survived by his parents, Hefziba (Hefzi) Malihi and Zecharia Ratzabi, and his brothers Evyatar, Itamar, and Avishay.

Malihi was born January 15, 2003, one day after his mother’s birthday.

“I had a cesarean section,” Hefzi Malihi told local a local news outlet, “and I asked for that specific date so that he would be my birthday present.”

He is remembered as a loving brother and son with a great sense of humor.

“He was always smiling and singing,” his mother said. “He would tell me a lot, ‘Mom, I love you.’ We had special songs that he would play for me.”

Malihi was also an attentive, loyal friend, always ready to lend a helping hand or a listening ear.

“Regardless of whether he had the means to help or to give, he would change the world for those around him,” his brother Avishay recalled in a social media post.

Life was not always easy for Malihi, who was in and out of boarding schools from the age of five. But his friend Noa wrote on Instagram that he always managed to come out of each struggle with a smile.

She added, “I wish we could see his [future] successes, although just being himself was his greatest success.”

In addition to maintaining close, loving relationships with his family and friends, Malihi enjoyed building connections with the people through volunteer work.

He often visited a senior center in Kiryat Ono, and loved to put on upbeat music and dance with the retirees.

“You left a mark on the world of endless playfulness and uncompromising generosity,” wrote Avishay on Instagram shortly after Malihi’s death.

“You always smiled, even when it was hard for you. I am proud that I was given the chance to be a part of your life.”

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