October 7 · Personal story
Almog Sarusi
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival near Re’im
Current outcome
Returned for burial · August 31, 2024
Almog’s body was returned to Israel on 31 August 2024.
01
Travel, sport and Ra’anana
Almog Sarusi grew up in Ra’anana as the eldest of four children. His parents were Nira and Yigal; his younger siblings were Amit, Lahav and Shaked. He played soccer, trained in karate and studied Arabic at school. After army service in the Givati Brigade, he traveled through 17 countries. He was preparing to begin his final year of civil engineering studies and lived with his partner Shahar Gindi near Ariel University. They had met while traveling in India and planned to marry; Almog intended to propose in January 2024. His family later described another dream: opening a supportive home for at-risk youth and working in education and music. His parents and siblings said they discovered many quiet acts of generosity only after his death.
02
At Nova with Shahar
Almog went to the Nova festival with Shahar and friends on 7 October 2023. During the attack, he helped Shahar escape the party area and covered her just before attackers reached them. She was killed; Almog was taken hostage. A call reached his family by accident when a phone button was pressed. In the recording, his family heard him injured and trying to help the people around him rather than speaking about himself. His mother Nira later recalled warning him about the attackers that morning, before the family understood how much danger he faced.
03
Eleven months of waiting
Almog’s father Yigal later recalled that he was first told Almog had been identified at Shura, but he did not recognize the body and went home. The next day, after police and a social worker said fingerprints confirmed the identification, Yigal still said the body was not Almog. His mother Nira later recalled the family being told that Almog was a hostage. For 330 days, his parents and siblings held on to hope. They believed he could endure the tunnels and waited for news. In an interview published on 17 September 2024, his mother described how the family kept searching and trying to understand what had happened. In a September 2025 interview, former hostage Or Levy said he met Almog in a tunnel with Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Ori Danino; they shared stories and supported one another. Levy said he spent three days with the three men before they were taken away. Almog was killed in captivity on 29 August 2024.
04
Returned to Israel
Almog was killed on 29 August 2024. His body was returned to Israel on 31 August, and he was buried in Ra’anana on 1 September. His family gathered to mourn him after months of uncertainty.
05
His family’s words
Almog’s parents and younger siblings founded an association in his memory. They wrote that, for 27 years, he taught them to appreciate what they had and to become more optimistic and kinder. His family’s account describes a dream of helping young people at risk and a plan to build a life in the Negev or Golan, with work in education and music. People close to Almog later spoke of small acts he had kept private, including helping others without seeking recognition. The family chose “There is no better than being good” as a phrase that captured the values they wanted associated with him.