October 7 · Personal story
Ravid Katz
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he fought with the emergency response team and was killed; his body was taken to Gaza
Current outcome
Returned for burial · July 24, 2024
His remains were recovered from a tunnel in Khan Younis and brought to Israel for burial in Nir Oz.
01
Life before October 7
Ravid was born in Nir Oz to Yardena and Moshe Katz and grew up there. After high school he spent a year in national service with youth, then served as a medic in the Nahal Brigade. He earned a degree in informal education and worked as a teacher, guidance counselor and community counselor for young people at risk.
02
October 7
As the attack reached Nir Oz on October 7, Ravid first moved Revital and their children to a neighbor’s reinforced room. He then joined the local emergency response team and was killed in the fighting; his body was taken to Gaza.
03
Family learns of his death
Ravid’s family learned on November 28, 2023, that he had been killed during the October 7 attack. His remains stayed in Gaza until the army recovered them the following July.
04
Return for burial
On July 24, 2024, troops recovered Ravid’s remains from a tunnel in Khan Younis and brought them to Israel. He was buried in Nir Oz on July 28, his 52nd birthday. His sister Doron later wrote that the family could bury him in the place where he was born, raised and had established his family.
05
Family and memory
Ravid’s children were Shahar and Shira, from his earlier marriage to Hila, and Alma, four months old when he died, with Revital. Revital described how he used stories, jokes and shared experiences to teach the children. His sister remembered the meals he cooked, the visits on his balcony and the lessons he passed on through ordinary time together.