The term “hero” is used liberally to describe a multitude of people, but what is a hero?
A hero is someone who chooses responsibility when it would be easier to turn away. Someone who steps forward into fear, pain, or loss so that others don’t have to carry it alone.
A hero shows up when there is no applause – when the work is heavy, unseen, and costly. Heroes act not because they are fearless, but because something matters more than their fear. Compassion, loyalty, love, faith, or duty pulls them forward. They honor life, and even in death, they refuse to let others be forgotten.
This description truly embodies the IDF soldiers whose job is to search, identify, and return the dead. One of the units tasked with this sacred work is YASAR – the Southern Command Scanning Unit – whose members have quietly gone about their mission since the October 7 massacres.
Yosef, a member of the unit, shared with me his own harrowing experiences. His team is tasked with entering enemy territory to locate and identify fallen soldiers – a mission that demands not only physical courage but immense emotional strength. The weight of what he sees never leaves him, yet his commitment to bringing closure to grieving families pushes him forward.
Scenes of destruction, terror
Soft-spoken, Yosef described the unimaginable task his unit faced on October 8, when they were sent to Kissufim military base to search for human remains:
“My unit’s job was to check the women’s quarters to make sure there were no human remains. It was terrible. There was blood everywhere. There were clear signs of rape and torture. In addition to the bullet holes and scenes of destruction and terror, there were photos of the women on the walls and cupboards – photos of birthdays, celebrations, and certificates of appreciation from the army. As a father of girls, it was extremely difficult for me to see this and not be overwhelmed by my emotions.”
Yosef described the tasks his unit faced: identifying and packing bodies, cleaning army bases where the unspeakable horrors of October 7 had unfolded. He spoke of “hessed shel emet” (true kindness) – the mitzvah of caring for the dead with no expectation of reward. It is this sacred obligation and the faces of families waiting for answers that compel him to continue, despite the heavy toll on his heart.
His words hang heavy because they carry not just memory but grief, rage, and love all at once. Since that unimaginable day, YASAR has entered the worst battlefields imaginable to search for the fallen, identify them, and bring them home for burial in Israel. It is work that breaks the heart and leaves images that are impossible to unsee.
Since the beginning of the war, often under fire, the unit members have located, identified, and retrieved more than 600 soldiers who died in service.
In a historic mission this week, the YASAR unit, with Yosef present, was tasked with searching a graveyard in a cemetery in northern Gaza for the body of the final hostage, Ran Gvili.
Yosef told me that this macabre job required the unearthing of 250 bodies, with the assistance of embedded forensic dental specialists, until they located and positively identified the body of the last hostage held in Gaza. It took them a week to find Ran’s body. His was the 250th body they found. (In Hebrew 250 is the numerical value of Ran’s name.)
He shared with me the wave of emotion after Ran’s remains were positively identified. Soldiers were openly weeping. He told me of how the weeping changed to song, and to utter relief and joy that this grim chapter has finally been brought to a close. After an agonizing wait of over two years, this historic mission tragically ended a nation’s anguish, as Israelis waited and prayed for the return of their last remaining hostage.
As former prime minister Naftali Bennett so powerfully expressed:
“Now that they have completed their holy work, we need to bow our heads and thank them. They have performed an act of true hessed for the families of the fallen – and indeed for the entire nation of Israel. Thank you for bringing our fallen sons and daughters home.”
These soldiers do not ask to be seen, but we must see them. We must remember that amid destruction, there are those who choose humanity, honor, and mercy, and who carry our fallen home with trembling hands and steadfast hearts.