Ofir Tzarfati’s family: We saw video of Hamas burying his remains in ‘despicable’ fake retrieval

The family of Ofir Tzarfati says they were shown video of Hamas digging a hole in Gaza yesterday, bringing their son’s remains there, burying them, and then calling the Red Cross to witness the apparent retrieval, in a “despicable” manipulation by the terror group.

“We went to sleep tonight expecting and hoping that another family would close a two-year torturous circle and have their loved one returned for burial,” the family says in a statement.

“But once again, there was a deception at the expense of our family as we try to recover,” says the family.

IDF reservists stationed in eastern Gaza City have said that Hamas operatives carried out digging works yesterday before bringing out a body from a nearby building and placing it in the hole.

Hamas then covered the body in dirt and called the Red Cross to watch its operatives “uncover” it, they said. Army Radio said that the entire incident was filmed by a military drone.

The Tzarfati family says they saw the video of the fake burial and retrieval by Hamas, and calls it a “despicable manipulation designed to torpedo the deal and abandon the return of all the hostages.”

“This is the third time that we have been forced to open Ofir’s grave and rebury our son. The circle supposedly closed in December 2023, but it never really closes. Since then, we have been living with the wound that keeps opening, between memory and longing, between bereavement and a sense of mission,” they say.

*Our Ofir went to Nova to celebrate his birthday and never returned. We ask all the people of Israel not to forget the fallen, not to forget the hostages, and to continue supporting the families until they return — that’s the only way we’ll have a future. That’s the only way we can continue to live in our country,” the family says.

Tzarfati, 27, was shot, wounded and kidnapped by Gazan terrorists as he tried to escape from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, along with a number of others including freed hostage Romi Gonen. 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.