Presumed hostage Lior Rudaeff confirmed killed on October 7; body was taken to Gaza
Announcement that Nir Yitzhak resident was murdered while defending kibbutz from terrorists comes hours after his wife vowed family ‘will continue to fight until you come home’
Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak announced Tuesday that resident Lior Rudaeff, who for the past seven months was presumed to be a hostage in Gaza, has died.
A statement from the kibbutz did not give any further details, saying they would be provided later.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a separate statement saying that Rudaeff was killed on October 7 and his body was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists to the Strip, without details of how this was discovered.
The 61-year-old ambulance driver and volunteer medic got up early on October 7, preparing for a motorcycle ride to the Ramon Crater, when he got a call from the kibbutz emergency squad to protect the community.
Rudaeff went out to join the battle for the kibbutz and later sent a message that he had been hurt. He sent his love to his wife, Yaffa, and his four children, Noam, Nadav, Bar, and Ben, after which communication was lost.
Hours before the kibbutz’s announcement, Yaffa wrote a post on Facebook saying she wanted her husband back home.
“We miss your energy, we miss family get-togethers because nothing is the same without you. My beloved husband, hang on, we aren’t losing hope for a moment, and we will continue to fight until you come home,” she wrote.
Rudaeff was among the 252 hostages taken during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel, during which Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people amid acts of brutality and sexual assault, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.
One hundred and twenty-eight hostages remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 12 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 36 of those still held by Hamas, citing intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
