Staff Sgt. Sivan Asraf, 20: Was celebrating her last weekend on base
Killed when Hamas terrorists overran the Nahal Oz IDF base on October 7
Staff Sgt. Sivan Simha Asraf, 20, a signals soldier from Ashkelon, was killed on October 7 when Hamas terrorists overran the Nahal Oz IDF base.
Sivan had enlisted in the IDF in October 2021, serving in the Teleprocessing Corps, and that weekend was slated to be her last on base before being released. Sivan and Staff Sgt. Shahaf Nissani, who was serving on the same base and also about to complete her mandatory service, had planned out their whole final weekend together on base with food and celebrations.
They awoke to the sound of sirens at 6:30 a.m. and ran to the on-base bomb shelter. But they quickly realized that this was not just a rocket attack, but there were Hamas gunmen inside the base. Sivan spoke to her mother from a friend’s phone and told her, “Mom, there’s a terrorist invasion, I love you.”
Her family said that they later learned from others on base that Sivan was killed while trying to run for safety from the bomb shelter, which had been attacked by the Hamas invaders. Shahaf was also slain that day.
Sivan was buried on October 12 in Ashkelon. She is survived by her parents, Osnat and Itzik, and her siblings Tair and Yahli.
An online eulogy noted that Sivan was very close to her older and younger sisters, and had several hobbies — reading, listening to music and working out at the gym. She also loved keeping things neat and organized, including her room on base, which she decorated to add a homey touch.
Sivan’s sister, Tair, wrote, “My beautiful sister, the best girl in the world, a little angel who left too soon.”
“So kind, gentle, beautiful, full of joy and a rolling laugh, always put together and organized,” she added. “There’s nobody who wouldn’t say how kind you were, you always loved to help and volunteer, you loved to give of yourself to others, sought peace and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. You loved to make peace between people and resolve arguments. I love you forever, my other half, the most beautiful and pure soul in the world.”
Her mother, Osnat, told a local news outlet that “Sivan was a beautiful girl, she loved life, she was happy and joyous. She had a contagious and bashful laughter, she loved to smile, she was kind, loved to help everyone. She had a heart of gold.”
Osnat said that there was “no soldier who asked her for help and she didn’t help them. I remember when a new soldier showed up to the base and was a little shy, Sivan took her for a tour of the base and showed her everything and introduced her to everyone, took her everywhere.”
Sivan, she said, “forgave everyone and never held a grudge, everyone loved her, she was magnetic. All the soldiers loved her, she had fun there together. That was Sivan — magnetic, smiling, happy — that’s how I want her to be remembered.”
Osnat said Sivan was still figuring out what she wanted to do with her life, and had so many dreams that were cut short.
“She was only 20, and naturally she was debating which way to go,” she said. “On the one hand, she loved the army and wanted to re-up, and at the same time, she wanted to study interior design, understand real estate appraisal, learn English, take a long trip to New York. She wanted to do so many things.”