October 7 · Personal story
Keren Munder
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Nir Oz
Current outcome
Released alive · November 24, 2023
Released from Gaza with her son and mother after 49 days in captivity.
01
Teaching and coaching
Keren Munder grew up in Nir Oz, where her parents Avraham and Ruti raised her and her younger brother Roee. She later made her home in Kfar Saba with her son Ohad and her partner Avi. She worked as a special-education teacher and coached volleyball for children with disabilities. During the autumn holiday in 2023, she and Ohad traveled to visit her parents in Nir Oz. Avi described her as someone who put other people’s needs before her own.
02
The visit became captivity
On October 7, Keren and Ohad were visiting her parents in Nir Oz when the kibbutz was attacked. At 7:24 a.m. she messaged Avi that there was continuous gunfire, that they were worried attackers had entered nearby communities, and that they had locked the safe-room door. She had forgotten her charger in the kitchen and turned off the news so Ohad could watch a television show quietly. Her last message, at 7:39, asked Avi to care for himself and follow Home Front Command instructions: “Let’s hope this ends quickly with no one getting harmed,” she wrote. “Take care of yourself and follow the homefront command instructions.” That morning, relatives learned that the phones belonging to Keren, Ruti, and Avraham had been located in Gaza.
03
Forty-nine days apart from home
Keren spent 49 days in Gaza with Ruti and Ohad. Relatives later said the three stayed together throughout captivity. Keren told her cousin Merav Raviv that they mostly ate rice and pita and slept on rows of molded plastic seats. Raviv said they sometimes waited an hour and a half to use the bathroom. Ruti described the same period in her own interview, recalling plastic chairs, a sheet, and a stuffy room. Keren, her mother, and her son endured those weeks side by side.
04
Released with her son and mother
On November 24, 2023, Keren was released with Ohad and Ruti after 49 days in captivity. Avraham was not in the returning group. By then, Keren knew her brother Roee had been killed in Nir Oz. In family footage after release, she asked about her father; when told he was being held in Gaza, she answered, “so he wasn’t murdered.” Keren returned to Avi and the rest of her family while her father remained captive.
05
Family losses and a public voice
On March 26, 2024, Keren spoke at Israel’s education leadership conference while her father was still captive. She recalled the loss of her brother and the 49 days she had spent in Gaza. She described trying to preserve her humanity and keep her promise to bring Ohad home so they could have a future together. She urged decision-makers to return the remaining hostages and said that healing could begin only after their return. Avraham’s body was recovered from Gaza and returned to Israel on August 20, 2024.