Dead ex-hostage whose photo was aired by Hamas today is Ofir Tzarfati

The hostage whose body’s photo was published today by Hamas is Ofir Tzarfati, his mother confirms in a statement issued by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Tzarfati, 27, was shot and wounded as he was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7. On November 27, the IDF declared that he was confirmed dead, and on December 1, the military announced it had recovered his body from Gaza and he was laid to rest in Kiryat Ata.

Hamas published the image of his body today in an apparent effort to tie it to the terror group’s claim that its guard recently shot dead a male hostage, though the IDF was quick to note that the photo was of a hostage whose body was recovered from the Strip last year.

In the statement, Richelle Tzarfati says: “I am choosing not to look at the photo Hamas published and to remember Ofir as he was — a perfect, handsome, smiling, happy man, and not like Hamas decided to do today via deplorable psychological warfare.”

Richelle Tzarfati, mother of slain Hamas captive Ofir Tzarfati, speaks to the crowd at a rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on May 11, 2024. (Paulina Patimer/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

She adds that the most important thing right now is for a deal to be sealed to return the remaining 115 hostages.