Shalom Tzaban, 60: Firefighting chief shot and killed at dawn

Murdered in his car in his hometown of Sderot on October 7

Shalom Tzaban, 60, the commander of the Kiryat Gat fire station, was killed by Hamas terrorists in Sderot, where he lived, on October 7.

His nephew, Dror, said on Twitter that Shalom was last seen in video footage while he was wounded by gunshots in his vehicle at 6:30 a.m. in Sderot on Saturday. The family later received the news that he had been killed.

Shalom was slain alongside his girlfriend, Natalia Demidova, who was visiting from Ukraine.

He was buried in Sderot on October 8. He is survived by his two children, Aviram and Ofir, as well as his ex-wife’s son, Alon, several grandchildren and his siblings.

Born and raised in Kiryat Gat, he served in the IDF as a mechanic, including fighting in the First Lebanon War in 1982.

He joined the Israel Fire and Rescue Service in 1992, and worked as a firefighter for 31 years. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of deputy fire chief. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities from the Tel-Hai Academic College.

His friend Yakir Schindler, a member of the Kiryat Gat city council, wrote on Facebook that “just like throughout his life, also today, he had great courage, risking his life in order to save others. To our great sadness he paid for it with his life.”

His friend and fellow firefighter Shimon Genish wrote on Facebook that the firefighter “was a great commander and a true friend who was a figure to be admired, a role model… I will always remember the beautiful moments we had together — at work and also in civilian life.”

His son, Ofir, told Ynet that “there never was and never will be a warrior and a father and a grandfather like him.” He said that his father was “addicted to work, he had his own rescue team, he volunteered outside of his work hours… Dad loved to help everyone, no matter who and with what. No matter what time you’d call him, even if it was the middle of the night.”

Shalom’s daughter-in-law, Tahel, told the news site that “he’s a hero. He jumped into action first — he always did. He loved action.”