IDF chief salutes slain commander Hamami: ‘Rest in peace, war hero’

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir eulogizes Col. Asaf Hamami — whose body was returned by Hamas more than two years after he was killed and abducted to Gaza — as a “war hero” at his funeral.

Hamami was the commander of the Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, the regional unit responsible for the southern portion of the border with the Strip. He was killed fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nirim during the October 7 onslaught.

“Hamami, you captivated everyone who met you with an unfeigned charm, including your subordinates and your superiors. You led and guided with effortless authenticity,” Zamir says. “You were a commander with a strength of heart and professional wisdom that inspired, and above all, you believed in and nurtured the strength of your people and truly loved them.”

Zamir recalls that as the chief of the Southern Command, he awarded Hamami — then the commander of the Givati Brigade’s Tzabar Battalion — a certificate of excellence for his outstanding work. “I know that you would have continued to command in the highest positions of the IDF in the same way,” he says.

After his death, Zamir says, commanders would tell their troops to act “with courage and determination like Hamami.”

“How proud you would have been of them, Hamami, of their heroism and of all our troops who led the IDF’s maneuvers in Gaza and countless arenas since that day of terrible failure, until victory. A victory achieved after two years of the most complex and powerful military effort we have known in the country’s history, which brought the living hostages back home for recovery, and reshaped Israel’s security conception against regional threats,” Zamir says.

הרמטכ"ל זמיר מצדיע מעל קברו של אסף: נוח בשלום גיבור מלחמה, נישא מכאן את הציווי – להיות טובים להיות חממי | שידור ישירhttps://t.co/0gTsx3E09p pic.twitter.com/kdUkK8SyvB

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) November 4, 2025

“Rest in peace, war hero, for the victory was achieved, and we continue to fight to continue to win,” he says. “I promise you that the victory achieved from the strength of the cohesion of the people’s army and the nation will continue to give us the power to continue to build, to grow, and also to fight with that cohesion which is necessary for our existence,” Zamir continues.

“From here, we will carry the command ‘to be good — to be Hamami,’ forever,” he adds.