October 7 · Personal story
Eden Yerushalmi
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival near Re’im
Current outcome
Returned for burial · August 31, 2024
Eden’s body was returned to Israel on 31 August 2024.
01
Tel Aviv, sea and movement
Eden Yerushalmi was born in Tel Aviv and grew up between her sisters Shani and May, with whom she shared a close family life. Her family’s memorial remembers her love of the sea, the sound of matkot on the beach, dancing and the everyday jokes she brought home. She was interested in fashion and sewing, loved animals, and rode a small motorcycle around Tel Aviv. Eden worked as a waitress at Fifty&One and later as a bartender at Nova. She had just earned a Pilates instructor certificate and hoped to teach classes and travel to Greece. Her relatives remembered her energy and the friends who gathered around her.
02
Hiding at Nova
On 7 October 2023, Eden was working as a bartender at the Nova festival near Re’im. As the attack spread, she hid and stayed in contact by phone with her sisters and the police. Her family released a recording of her call to police; one sentence became part of how they remembered that morning: “Find me, okay?” In the call, Eden asked for help while trying to explain where she was. Her sisters remained on the line as she moved between hiding places. After hours without a safe way out, she was abducted from the festival area. Her family later described the long wait for news of her.
03
Murdered on 29 August
Eden’s family describes eleven months in Hamas captivity, in harsh conditions and with malnutrition. She was murdered with five other hostages in a tunnel in Rafah on 29 August 2024. Her family records that her body weighed 36 kilograms when it was recovered and returned to Israel two days later. During those months, her parents and sisters campaigned for her return.
04
Returned to Israel
Eden was killed on 29 August 2024. Her body was returned to Israel on 31 August, and her family buried her at Yarkon Cemetery on 1 September. Her sisters and parents had waited eleven months for her.
05
A family’s request
At the family memorial, Eden’s parents and sisters wrote: “As Eden’s family, we ask in her name: ‘Remember me, okay?’” They recalled her ordinary joys: the sea, matkot, music, fashion, friends and plans to teach Pilates.