Assaf Febvre, 23: Guitar-playing lover of extreme sports and travel

Assaf Febvre, 23, was murdered by Hamas terrorists near his home in Kibbutz Re’im on October 7.

Assaf was at home in an apartment in the youth wing of the kibbutz when the attack began. He called up a member of the local security team and asked if they had a weapon he could use to join the fight against the Hamas invasion. There were none to spare, but nevertheless Assaf chose to try and fight them off face-to-face, his family said, succeeded twice in escaping their attempts to kidnap him before he was shot and killed.

Also in the kibbutz’s youth wing that day, Amit Gabay was murdered while Liam Or was kidnapped and later freed. Assaf’s parents and sisters huddled in their own safe room in the kibbutz, escaping out of the window after terrorists set their house on fire, and ultimately being rescued by security forces. The next morning, they were told that Assaf’s body had been found on the grass near the kibbutz factory.

Assaf was buried on October 17 in Kibbutz Re’im. He is survived by his parents, Rotem and Geo, and his older sisters Lia and Noam.

The baby of the family, Assaf was born in Re’im, to Rotem, a native of the kibbutz, and Geo, a native of Vietnam who had been orphaned as a baby during the war and adopted by a French woman who raised him in Paris, according to a fundraising page. Geo came to the kibbutz as a volunteer and met Rotem, ultimately settling there and raising their family.

Assaf wasn’t much of a dedicated student, according to a state eulogy, but his true love was music, learning to play guitar at age 10 and starting a band with his friends in high school. Most of the photos and videos of Assaf shared by loved ones after his death showed him strumming on his beloved guitar.

During his time in the army, Assaf served in the Combat Engineering Corps, and after his release he took a security course and worked as a guard on El Al flights, and later as security on cruise ships.

He also pursued a wide range of interests, including completing an underwater diving course, getting his motorcycle license and visiting Thailand. He was dedicated to exercising and keeping in shape and loved extreme sports, taking ski vacations and planning to try parachuting on his next trip abroad.

“Assaf was a leader who gave a shoulder, advice, a sense of security, who gave you a lot, personally and socially,” Geo wrote on Facebook about his son, a month after he was killed. “It fills me with happiness, strengthens me. I have no doubt that while Assaf was fighting terrorists, he saved part of the kibbutz. So let’s win together for him, for us, for the next generation.”

“I had a lot of love to give to Assaf and it’s over, I am ready to give you all the love I have left,” he added. “At 3 in the morning on Sunday, October 8, I wrote to Assaf: ‘I love you.’ I don’t think I ever told him out loud. Out loud I want to say: ‘I love you.'”

His older sister, Noam, wrote on Facebook: “Assafi, I don’t want to wake up in the morning to a world you’re not in.”

“Assafi, you’re the most talented, handsome, strong, successful and good kid there was and will be in this world,” she continued. “You really had hands of gold and a golden heart. I can’t describe how talented you are, and those who know you understand. You’re the best friend, the best brother, the best son, the best to everyone.”

Noam added that “I was privileged to be your big sister, your number one fan. From the day you were born you were my heart, my greatest love and you always will be.”

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