Ofir Tzarfati, 27: A ‘pure soul’ who helped girlfriend escape rave

Ofir Tzarfati, 27, was shot and wounded as he was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7.

Ofir, who was celebrating his 27th birthday at the rave with his girlfriend, Shoval Gal, led his group of friends as they ran and hid when Hamas terrorists opened fire, according to a group member.

They got to their car and Ofir made sure Shoval was safe inside, but he ended up getting into another car. Days later, Shoval heard that Ofir had been shot and badly hurt in the other car, and was presumed captive in Gaza.

On November 27, the IDF declared that Ofir was confirmed to have been killed, and on December 1, the military announced it had recovered his body from Gaza. It  did not provide a date of death or details about the circumstances.

In August 2024, Hamas published a photo of Ofir’s body and claimed he had been shot dead by his captor, a claim that was not corroborated by Israeli authorities.

Ofir was laid to rest in Kiryat Ata on December 1, 2023. He is survived by his parents, Richelle and Hanan, and his sisters Shoval and Lior.

On October 28, 2025, Hamas returned additional remains belonging to Ofir to Israel, claiming at the time that it was sending the body of a hostage to Israel.

The middle child in his family, Ofir was born and raised in Kiryat Ata outside Haifa. From a young age he loved sports and played tennis, according to a state obituary.

After graduating high school he enlisted in the IDF and served as a combat soldier on a Navy patrol boat based in Ashdod.

When he finished his military service, Ofir worked as a waiter and bartender to save up money in order to spend eight months traveling around South America.

Upon his return to Israel, he began studying electrical engineering at Ariel University, and after finishing his degree, starting working in the field.

At his funeral, his sister Shoval mourned the family’s immense loss.

“I don’t know what we’re doing here, this isn’t the place for you,” she said tearfully. “You’re the kind of guy who survives everything I believed so much that you could handle it. You fought for everyone, took care of everyone. I want to thank you for the privilege of being your sister.”

Ofir’s girlfriend Shoval, whom he saved from the music festival, said at his funeral: “I still can’t comprehend that I won’t see your smile anymore. You’re my best friend… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you when you protected me… My Ofir, in a parallel universe, propose to me like you wanted. And we’ll bring a beautiful child into the world and you’ll play soccer with him. My angel, you will forever be part of my heart.”

His mother, Richelle said: “My Ofir, in my darkest dreams I never believed I would stand here in front of your coffin… Ofir, you had so many special and noble qualities — endless generosity, you had a pure and clean soul. You always chose to see the good in people… you were an angel in the form of a human.”

“If I could get you back even for just a minute, I would tell you again how much I love you, to hug you and to tell you thank you for 27 years of pleasure, of happiness, of pride, of joy, of unending love… Ofir, your melody can’t be stopped from playing — we promise to keep playing your tune.”

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