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ZAKA

Representatives from the World Zionist Organization, the Foreign Ministry, and ZAKA help exhume the bodies of Theodor Herzl's grandparents, Shimon and Rivka Herzl, in Belgrade, Serbia, July 29, 2026. (World Zionist Organization/ ZAKA)
July 29, 2026, 8:40 pm
Herzl’s grandparents’ remains exhumed, to be reinterred in Jerusalem next week
Shimon and Rivka Herzl’s bodies recovered from Belgrade cemetery, will be reburied next to Zionist visionary’s grave on anniversary of his own 1949 reburial
By Zev Stub
Residents and rescue workers search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, June 25, 2026. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)
June 25, 2026, 5:35 pm
Israel making ‘immediate preparations’ to send aid team to quake-stricken Venezuela
No Israelis known to be harmed in devastating natural disaster that has killed more than 150; Israeli nonprofit NATAN sends team as ZAKA, IsraAid prepare to mobilize
By Nava Freiberg, Sue Surkes and Agencies
Footage from a video showing the fatal crash between a minibus carrying Israeli passengers and a bus in Panama, on May 13, 2026. (Screenshot: X, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
May 13, 2026, 9:00 pm
Israeli tourist killed, four injured in Panama bus crash
ZAKA, Foreign Ministry working with authorities in Panama to repatriate body to Israel for burial
By ToI Staff
Rescue forces search for a missing man who was caught in the Nahal Modi'in stream during a storm near the settlement of Modi’in Illit, January 15, 2026. (Jonathan Shaul/Flash90)
January 16, 2026, 1:48 pm
After three days, rescuers find body of teen swept away by stream in downpour
Moshe Lodimer, 17, was pulled into the Nahal Modi’in stream during a heavy storm; deputy fire chief calls on citizens to stay away from flood sites, overflowing streams
By ToI Staff
Charlotte Niddam in a social media video posted on September 9, 2025. (Screenshot/TikTok/@charlotteniddam; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
January 4, 2026, 10:55 pm
Israeli teen Charlotte Niddam confirmed dead in New Year’s fire at Swiss ski resort
Israel’s ZAKA volunteers said to help identify body after over 40 killed in Alps disaster; Niddam, who was also a UK and French citizen, went to Jewish school in London
By ToI Staff
A woman lays flowers near the site where a fire ripped through a crowded bar during New Year's Eve celebrations in the Alpine ski resort town of Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on January 1, 2026. (MAXIME SCHMID / AFP)
January 2, 2026, 6:21 am
Israel offers help to Switzerland after deadly ski resort blaze kills dozens
Three Jewish people said missing; Herzog offers condolences, notes Israeli experience in dealing with disasters; authorities still identifying victims, cause of fire
By ToI Staff and Agencies
A photo of Eliyahu Abba Shaul, a 19-year-old who went missing in the Tel Aviv area during winter storm Byron (left) and authorities as they searched for the teen (right), on December 12, 2025. (Israel Police)
December 14, 2025, 11:43 pm
Body of Bnei Brak teen found near Yarkon River days after he went missing
Forensic institute concludes remains belong to Eliyahu Abba Shaul, 19, who disappeared last week amid stormy weather that brought deadly floods
By Charlie Summers
Cars in a flooded street in Yavne, December 11, 2025 (National Fire and Rescue Authority)
December 11, 2025, 12:10 pm
Man found dead, 14 rescued from trapped vehicles, 2 girls hurt by tree amid winter storm
Rescue services say 53-year-old found lifeless in Netanya home likely died of hypothermia; streets and supermarkets flooded; heavy snow falls on Mount Hermon; Byron hits Gaza hard
By ToI Staff
First responders at the scene of the incident at Shamir Medical Center on July 28, 2025. (Courtesy of Zaka)
July 29, 2025, 11:52 am
Man crushed to death by falling tree branch at hospital in central Israel
Victim was accompanying his pregnant wife to Shamir Medical Center, which expresses ‘profound sorrow over the difficult incident’
By ToI Staff
ZAKA team members analyze water patterns in the Hill Country in Texas following the flash flood that killed more than 135 people in July 2025. (ZAKA)
July 27, 2025, 4:58 pm
ZAKA volunteers help guide search for victims of Texas Hill Country flooding
After July 4 flash floods, Israeli search and rescue team is using AI-based model to identify most likely locations of bodies
By Zev Stub
Zaka personnel collect clothes that belong to the victims of the October 7 Hamas massacre, near the Israel-Gaza border, southern Israel, November 19, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 12, 2025, 11:04 pm
Report: Millions of shekels of post-October 7 donations to ZAKA have gone missing
Haaretz report, citing search and rescue group’s internal audit, claims at least NIS 30M donated to US Friends of ZAKA branch in 2023 never made it to the Israel-based nonprofit
By ToI Staff
Yossi Hoffman stands near the 'wall of cars' memorial at Tekuma. (Hadas Kuznits)
December 1, 2024, 10:14 am
Scarred by October 7, first responder copes with his trauma by BBQing for soldiers
Struggling to deal with what he saw while recovering bodies of Hamas victims, ZAKA’s Yossi Hoffman seeks solace by offering tours of affected sites, using funds for cookouts for troops
By Hadas Kuznits
Volunteers of ZAKA, a unique rescue and recovery group whose job is to collect the remains of the dead for burial in accordance with Jewish religious law, are guided by therapists as they take an ice bath during an organized activity session aimed at dealing with trauma from Hamas's October 7, 2023, terror onslaught, in Nes Harim, near Jerusalem, on November 17, 2024. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP)
November 24, 2024, 5:49 am
‘It healed my soul’: Therapy retreat helps ZAKA rescuers deal with trauma from Oct. 7
Many of unique organization’s mostly Haredi volunteers have struggled to move on after bearing witness to Hamas atrocities, as sing-along sessions and ice baths help them recover
By AFP
Alon Penzel speaks at a Government Press Office conference (Government Press Office)
July 19, 2024, 10:18 am
Israeli college student compiles unblinking guide to dark trail of Hamas massacre
Foreign Ministry to distribute to embassies and visiting delegations 23-year-old’s English-language book of uncensored testimonies from October 7 survivors, volunteers and medics
By Diana Bletter
ZAKA volunteers walk through the destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, as they collect dead bodies, October 15, 2023. (Edi Israel/ Flash90)
May 22, 2024, 10:59 pm
How 2 debunked accounts from ZAKA workers fueled global skepticism of Oct. 7 rape
Some stories which circulated in days following attack, attributed to volunteers, have proved untrue, including about a pregnant woman as well as a girl with her pants pulled down
By AP and ToI Staff
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