Eden Zach-Zacharia, 28, went to rave for sense of freedom

The death of Eden Zach-Zacharia, 28, was confirmed on December 12, 2023. It is not clear from the announcement whether she died on October 7 or was killed in captivity.

During the operation to recover Zach-Zacharia’s body and that of Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot — the son of war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot — and Sgt. Maj. (res.) Jonathan David Deitch were killed, and other soldiers were wounded.

This is the story of her capture and its aftermath: 

Eden Zach-Zacharia, 28, was escaping in a car with her boyfriend and friends from the Supernova desert rave on October 7 when Hamas terrorists began shooting at their car, later abducting her.

“She said they were on their way home,” said her mother, Orin Ganz-Zach, in a Kan video.

Amid that frantic phone call, Zach-Zacharia received a call from her father.

When she returned to the line with her mother, she was shouting, “They’re shooting us, they’re really close!”

That was the last call her mother had with her daughter. She knows that Zach-Zacharia and her boyfriend Ofek Kimchi were both shot and stayed together as long as possible. Kimchi’s body was later found.

“I want to believe that there are good people there in Gaza,” said Ganz-Zach. “There are good Arabs. She is being taken care of, I believe it.”

Zach-Zacharia doesn’t usually go to many music festivals, said her mother, but she chose that particular one because “she loves the feeling of freedom,” she said. “They all look beautiful at the event, they all look like my daughter.”