The funeral for released hostage Uriel Baruch was held in Jerusalem on Sunday after his body was returned in the framework of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal.
“You don’t know how much I’ll miss you, my love; how much I’ll long for your silliness. I cannot understand how I am supposed to go on from here,” Racheli Baruch, Uriel’s widow, said during the funeral.
“How is a 31-year-old woman supposed to accept the title “widow?” How was our life together severed? We had so many plans for the future. It will be so hard to go on without you,” she continued.
“Uriel, I want to tell you that you’re not just my brother, you’re a brother to all of Israel,” Baruch’s brother, Roee, said.
“People everywhere in the country and around the world prayed, hoped, embraced us, supported us, and cried with us. Everyone feels like they know you. You’ve become a symbol of peace, love, hope, and unity.”
The Givon native was murdered at the Nova music festival on October 7, and his body was taken to Gaza, where it was kept for over two years. Baruch was 35 years old at the time of his death.
He is survived by his wife Racheli, his two children, Shalev and Ofek, as well as his parents and siblings.
Baruch arrived at the Nova party along with his friend, Michael, to celebrate Sukkot. Two days after he was killed, his family received footage showing Baruch in his vehicle, wounded but still alive.
However, the IDF informed the family on March 26, 2024, that Baruch had been confirmed dead.
He worked in construction and was fond of techno electronic dance music and going out. Baruch’s mother, Naomi, described him as a “child who loved life, always smiling and surrounded by friends.”
'Always smiling, and surrounded by friends'
His friends described a “happy, kindhearted, and ethical man who always took care of others and gave his time to anyone who needed it.”
In November 2023, 50 days after Baruch had been kidnapped and during the first round of the hostage release and ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, his younger brother, Idan, had told The Jerusalem Post that “we had hoped to see a general agreement that would bring all of the hostages out. The government has insisted that no one will be left behind, and we have to trust in that.”
Idan Baruch described his brother as having a very generous soul and being young in spirit. He also said that his brother, the third of four siblings, had a passion for music and festivals.
Judith Sudilovsky contributed to this report.