October 7 · Personal story
Nadav Popplewell
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
His home in Kibbutz Nirim
Current outcome
Returned for burial · August 19, 2024
His remains were recovered from Gaza by IDF troops and returned to Israel for burial in Nirim.
01
Life before October 7
Nadav lived in Kibbutz Nirim. A colleague recalled first meeting him over a game of whist, then working beside him from 2004. Popplewell worked in software and traveled with colleagues to meet clients in Israel and abroad.
02
October 7
On October 7, Nadav and his mother, Channah Peri, were taken from their home in Kibbutz Nirim. His brother Roi was also killed at Nirim that day.
03
In captivity
Channah was released on November 24, 2023. At Nadav’s August 2024 funeral, she recalled that he was alive with the other men when she left captivity. In June 2024, the IDF had informed the family that he died in captivity.
04
Return for burial
The IDF announced Nadav’s death on June 3, 2024. Troops recovered his remains from the Khan Younis area on August 19; he was buried in Nirim two days later.
05
Family and memory
Nadav was buried beside his father, Rafi, and his brother Roi, whose remains were reinterred in Nirim that day. At his funeral, Channah remembered how Nadav had cared for her in captivity. His sister Ayelet later marked the first Jewish New Year without her two brothers and recalled family meals they had loved.