Thousands of Israelis paid their last respects to Israel Defense Forces Col. Asaf Hamami on Tuesday at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv, two days after his body was released from Gaza by Hamas.
Hamami, who commanded the Southern Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces’ Gaza Division, was killed defending Kibbutz Nirim from the Hamas-led terrorist invasion on Oct. 7, 2023. He became the most senior officer to have been taken hostage during the massacre.
His remains were held in the Gaza Strip for 578 days, until Hamas returned them as part of the U.S.-brokered truce deal on Sunday.
Forty years old at the time of his death, Hamami is survived by his parents, a brother, his wife Sapir and their three young children, one of whom was staying with his father at a base near the border on Oct. 7. Alon Hamami, 6, survived the attack by hiding in the situation room.
“I so wanted a different ending, but this is probably the best ending I could have imagined since Oct. 7,” his widow said on Tuesday. “To know that you are here giving me air to breathe.”
Sapir Hamami read the names of the eight slain hostages who remain in Hamas captivity after almost 400 days, telling attendees: “Their families are in darkness and terrible fear that someone will be left behind, especially now that the people are tired of wars and protests.”
There was “no other option” but bringing them all home, she said. “I promise you that I will continue to be there with their beloved families, because I know that’s what you wanted.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir was among several current and former Israeli officials who eulogized the slain officer.
Zamir said Hamami would have been proud of the heroism with which “our soldiers have led the IDF’s maneuvers in Gaza and on countless fronts since that day of terrible failure [Oct. 7], up to the victory that brought the living hostages home to recovery in their homes.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that “Hamami symbolized, and still symbolizes, a generation of heroic commanders, salt of the earth, fearless and principled fighters, modest, lovers of people and nation.”
“Commanders who march at the front and who see it as their mission to lead from the front—who do everything to defend the State of Israel and its citizens, even at the cost of their life,” continued the head of state. He added: “Hamami became a legend, especially in the Givati Brigade.”
During the funeral, a recording was played in which Hamami could be heard officially declaring war some 30 minutes after the invasion got underway. “We are at war, everything is fine, war,” he said, in what is believed to be the first such declaration on Oct. 7.
Hamami’s body was returned to the Jewish state for burial on Sunday alongside the remains of IDF Capt. Omer Maxim Neutra and Sgt. Oz Daniel.
The bodies of six Israelis and two foreign nationals are still being held by terrorists in Gaza. Hamas is required to return all of the captives—both living and deceased—as part of the U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement.
