Israel identified the remains of a deceased hostage who returned from Gaza as Sgt. Major Tal Haimi, the commander of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak’s rapid response team.
Haimi was 41 years old at the time of his death. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Haimi was killed in combat while defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak during the October 7, 2023 massacre. His body was then taken to Gaza, where it was held hostage for more than two years.
While Haimi’s family initially believed he had been taken alive, Israel declared him dead on December 13, 2023.
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Israel announced on Tuesday that it had identified the remains of a deceased hostage returned from Gaza as Tal Haimi. (The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Haimi was a third-generation descendant of kibbutz founders Nir Yitzhak and a fourth-generation resident, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“Tal worked as a mechanical engineer and was a member of Nir Yitzhak’s emergency response team. He enjoyed taking his family on nature trips and camping outdoors. He was an avid tool enthusiast and was known for always finding a solution to any problem that arose,” the forum wrote after Haimi’s remains were returned and identified.
Ela Haimi, the wife of hostage Tal Haimi, stands next to her daughter and speaks at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, on October 18, 2025. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
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Haimi is survived by his wife and their four children, as well as his father and sister. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum noted that one of Haimi’s children was born after he was murdered.
Following the identification of Haimi’s remains, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office expressed condolences to his family and reiterated its call for Hamas to release the remains of all deceased hostages for proper burial. The IDF also reiterated this call, demanding that Hamas fulfill its obligations under the agreement brokered by the Trump administration.
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The Israeli army applied military protocol for the deceased hostage Tal Haimi. (IDF spokesperson’s unit)
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On October 13, 2025, the last twenty surviving hostages returned to Israel after more than two years of captivity. Meanwhile, the remains of the 28 deceased hostages have since been slowly returned. Now the remains of fifteen deceased hostages, including American citizens Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, remain in Gaza. One of the deceased hostages in Gaza is Hadar Goldin, whose remains have been held in the enclave since he was killed in fighting in 2014.
