Body of slain hostage Tal Haimi returns to Israel: ‘He fought like a lion’

Slain hostage Sgt.-Major Tal Haimi was brought back to Israel from Gaza Monday night (last night), according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office after his identification was completed at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute.

Tal’s uncle, Zamir Haimi, said on This Morning with Aryeh Golan on Kan Reshet Bet that Tal “fought like a lion with the emergency response team, while no one else had yet arrived.” Zamir added that Tal’s return for burial was received “with a great mixture of emotions,” given that there are still 15 deceased hostages “that we must continue to fight for.”

The IDF stated that Haimi, commander of the emergency response team at Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, fell in battle defending the kibbutz on the morning of Oct. 7, and his body was taken by Hamas. Haimi, 41 at the time of his death, is survived by his wife Ella, four children, his father, and a sister.

At first, the family believed Tal was alive, but after two months they learned he had fallen on the morning of the massacre. His wife, Ella, gave birth to their fourth child, Lotan, after Tal’s death—while he was still considered an alive hostage. Tal was a mechanical engineer and a third-generation member of the kibbutz’s founding families.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said: “Alongside the grief and the understanding that the heart will never be whole, the return of Tal, of blessed memory, offers some solace to a family that has lived with agonizing uncertainty for more than two years.”

An IDF investigation into the battles at Kibbutz Nir Oz revealed that IDF forces only reached the kibbutz by noon, after the terrorists had already left. The emergency squad fought for many hours against dozens of terrorists. Eight members of the kibbutz were kidnapped to Gaza: Clara Merman, Luis Har, Fernando Merman, Gabriela Leimberg, Mia Leimberg, Oren Goldin, Lior Rudaif, and Tal Haimi.

Lior Rudaif is among the remaining deceased hostages still held in Gaza.

Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak eulogized Tal: “A Nir Yitzhak native to his last breath, he defended our beloved home and was killed in battle protecting his family and community. Tal fought alongside Lior Rudaif, of blessed memory, whose body remains in captivity. Despite Tal’s return for burial, the battle is not over—and will not end until Lior is also brought to rest beside him.”

As part of the current deal, 13 of the 28 deceased hostages have been returned to Israel for burial so far.

On Sunday, the bodies of hostages Ronen Engel and Sontaya Oukarsri were returned to Israel. Since the signing of the agreement, deceased hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Inbar Hyman, Master Sergeant Muhammad al-Atrash, Guy Iluz, Bipin Joshi, Yossi Sharabi, Captain Daniel Peretz, Uriel Baruch, Staff Sergeant Tamir Nimrodi, and Eitan Levi have all been brought back to Israel.

Under pressure from the United States and mediators, Hamas is expected to return additional deceased hostages to Israel. Sources told Kan News that this message was conveyed to Israel by the mediating countries, after Jerusalem expressed anger over the small number of bodies returned so far.

Israeli officials believe Hamas knows the exact locations of several other deceased hostages, and that engineering operations may be required to retrieve some of them.