The remains of the hostage that Israel received on Friday night were of First Sergeant (res.) Lior Rudaeff, the IDF, and the Prime Minister’s Office announced on Saturday.
The identity of the remains was confirmed at the L. Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir.
Rudaeff was initially believed to have been taken alive to Gaza. In May 2024, it was announced that he had been killed on October 7.
On the morning of October 7, Nukhba terrorists breached the gates of Nir Yitzhak, attacking its residents. Rudaeff, along with other members of the kibbutz’s emergency standby squad, rushed to defend the community.
The squad fought for hours without any IDF backup. During those chaotic hours, several members of the team were killed in the fighting. At some point, Rudaeff was nowhere to be found.
Who was Lior Rudaeff, defender of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak?
When his phone was later tracked to Gaza, it was believed that he had been taken hostage alive with others from the kibbutz.
His family believed him to be alive for seven months before the IDF informed them that Rudaeff had been killed on October 7, and his body was hijacked into the enclave by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Rudaeff leaves behind a wife, four children, three grandchildren, and a father, sister, and brother.
“After 763 harrowing days, our Lior has been returned home to be buried in the land he went out to defend on that dark morning, which changed our lives forever,” his children wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to all the good people who accompanied us in the uncompromising and humane struggle to bring our Lior home, along with all the other hostages.”
Rudaeff was born in Argentina and made aliyah when he was seven. He settled in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, where he raised his family.
Argentinian Ambassador Shimon Axel Wahnish hosted a gathering of freed Argentinian hostages and their families on Friday evening, noting Rudaeff’s resounding absence.
“After two years of uncertainty and pain, we finally had a night of emotion and hope together with the released Argentine hostages and their families. We celebrated life and liberty,” Wahnish said. “But that happiness was not complete: We were still waiting for the return of the bodies of the kidnapped from Gaza, including that of our compatriot, Lior Rudaeff.”
In a later post on social media, Wahnish thanked Argentinian President Javier Milei for his “firm decision and moral clarity,” regarding the hostages.
Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak wrote in a statement that it was two years and a month ago that Rudaeff left his home for the last time to defend his family and the place that had been his home his whole life.
“Thanks to his courage and resourcefulness, a greater disaster was prevented – but he paid for it with his life,” it said. “Lior was a man of the land, of the family, and of the community – a volunteer, neighbor, and true friend who was always there for everyone. The entire community of Nir Yitzhak mourns Lior’s passing and embraces his wife, Yaffa, his children, grandchildren, and all the family with love during this difficult and tumultuous moment of closure.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Rudaeff was a generous and kind man who loved helping others.
“Those close to [Rudaeff] say he had a generous spirit. He volunteered for 40 years as an ambulance driver in the Eshkol Regional Council and as a member of the Nir Yitzhak emergency standby squad. He was always the first to volunteer, extending a helping hand to everyone,” the forum said.