October 7 · Personal story
Avraham Munder
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Nir Oz
Current outcome
Returned for burial · August 20, 2024
His body was recovered from Gaza and returned to Israel for burial on 20 August 2024.
01
Life before
Avraham Munder was born in Givatayim in 1944 and moved to Nir Oz as a young member of Hashomer Hatzair. He served as a paratrooper before returning to build his life in the kibbutz. He and Ruti had a daughter, Keren, and a son, Roee; grandson Ohad was born in 2014. The family opened their home to youth groups, volunteers and new families. Munder worked in field crops and construction, coordinated purchasing, and later managed logistics at the Nirlat paint factory. After retirement, he worked in the clothing store and laundry. He collected stamps and corresponded with collectors abroad, sang in choirs, enjoyed crosswords and football, and read poems and stories to Ohad. In 1962, he joined the founding group that settled Nir Oz. He met Ruti there, and they married in 1966. He fought in the Six-Day War and was wounded at Ammunition Hill; his daughter later wrote that the experience deepened his concern for his family’s safety near Gaza.
02
Abduction
On 7 October, Avraham was at home with Ruti, Keren and grandson Ohad, visiting for the holiday. He tried to hold the safe-room door as the attackers took his family, then was abducted on a motorcycle and injured during the journey. His son Roee was killed in the kibbutz that day. Ruti, Keren and Ohad were released alive on 24 November 2023.
03
Captivity
The National Insurance Institute records 14 February 2024 as Avraham’s date of death in captivity. On 20 August 2024, the IDF publicly announced his death while reporting the overnight recovery of his body. The date recorded for his death and the date on which his death was announced are therefore separate. Ruti, Keren and Ohad had returned alive in November 2023. In findings announced on 4 December 2024, the IDF inquiry said the six men were likely shot by captors after airstrikes in the area; it could not establish the precise time of the gunfire or direct cause of death.
04
Return
The IDF recovered Munder’s body in Khan Younis overnight on 19–20 August 2024 and returned it to Israel. The official memorial gives 20 August as the return date. He was buried the next day in Nir Oz, beside his son Roee, whose grave was moved from Kibbutz Metzer so father and son could rest together.
05
Aftermath
At the funeral, Ruti spoke about their years together, travel, football, basketball, singing and family. Munder was remembered as a precise worker and a generous grandfather who read poems and stories to Ohad. Stamp collecting linked him to correspondents abroad; choirs and football linked him to the social life he loved. His family’s headstone recalls songs as part of his life.