Lior Rudaeff, 61, from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, was murdered near his home on October 7 and his body kidnapped to Gaza.
Lior, an ambulance driver and volunteer medic, got a call early that Saturday morning that the kibbutz was under attack. A member of the local first response team, he set out to join the defense against the Hamas terrorists and later sent a message to his loved ones that he had been hurt.
His phone was tracked to Khan Younis, and for months his family believed he was being held hostage in Gaza. In May 2024, authorities confirmed that Lior had been killed on October 7 and his body taken captive.
His family held a memorial service on May 9, 2024, in Kibbutz Hatzor, and sat shiva, the weeklong mourning period, but could not hold a funeral.
“He doesn’t deserve to be buried somewhere in Gaza,” his wife, Yaffa, told The Times of Israel in March 2025.
On November 7, 2025, his body was returned to Israel by Hamas. Due to his role with the local security team, he was posthumously recognized by the IDF as a fallen soldier with the rank of warrant officer in the reserves.
He was buried in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on November 10.
Lior is survived by his wife, Yaffa, his four children, Noam, Nadav, Bar and Ben, several grandchildren, his father, Giora, and his siblings Idit and Doron. He was predeceased by his mother, Eugenia.
His youngest son, Ben, was attending the Supernova music festival that day, but managed to escape the rave and survive.
Born in Argentina, Lior – the middle child – moved with his family to Israel on his 7th birthday, and they settled in Nir Yitzhak near the Gaza border, according to a kibbutz eulogy.
Lior attended local schools, including the nearby Ma’ale Habesor high school. After graduating, he enlisted in the IDF and served in an anti-aircraft warfare unit.
In 1985, he married Yaffa, and they established their home in the kibbutz, where they raised their four children. Later, he doted on his grandchildren.
Over the years, Lior worked in a number of different jobs in the kibbutz, including starting at the mechanic shop at age 12. He ultimately earned a license for practically every vehicle with an engine and wheels, the kibbutz said. He taught every teen on the kibbutz how to drive a tractor and a forklift and gave classes on proper driving at the local high school.
For the last 18 years of his life, Lior worked as a traffic safety officer for a transport safety company.
He had served as a member of the kibbutz’s local security team for around 40 years, and as a Magen David Adom ambulance driver for approximately 25 years. His hobbies included motorcycle riding, bike riding and cooking.
At a memorial ceremony, his son, Nadav, described his father as “the man with the blue eyes, the sly smile, the rolling laughter, the folded arms and the toothpick in your mouth.”
His father, he said, “was never afraid to say what was on your mind,” and had a dark sense of humor, “repeating the same dad jokes over and over again, always bursting out laughing.”
More than anything, Nadav said, Lior had “a huge heart.”
“You were always direct, dedicated, caring, managing and in control of every situation, without compromising and almost always with a smile,” he said. On October 7, “you left the house without hesitation, you fought, together with Tal [Haimi], for a long time in order to defend your home. A true hero.”
