October 7 · Personal story
Samar Fouad Talalka
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Nir Am, southern Israel
Current outcome
Returned for burial · December 15, 2023
Killed by Israeli troops in Shejaiya on December 15, 2023, during the three hostages’ attempt to reach Israeli forces after escaping their captors.
01
A life in Hura and Nir Am
Samar Fouad Talalka, 24, came from Hura and was the eldest of ten children. His mother, Leila, was a teacher. For six years he worked beside his father Fouad at the Nir Am hatchery. His father described an honest young man whose passion was motorcycles. Samar was building a home behind his father’s house and planning to marry; while waiting for him, Fouad sometimes sat in its unfinished rooms, unable to continue building without his son.
02
The weekend shift at Nir Am
On October 7, 2023, Samar was working the weekend shift at Nir Am’s hatchery. KAN’s account says workers heard gunfire; Samar called the hatchery manager and went to check where it came from. Contact with Samar and Thai coworker Solin Xingong was lost. Samar was abducted from the kibbutz during the attack and taken to Gaza.
03
A father waited for news
Samar’s father said a Thai hostage who escaped captivity had been with his son for two hours before they were separated. His cousin Alaa later told a television channel that released hostages said Samar acted as a translator between captors and Israeli hostages. Alaa added that Samar tried to help others and share affection. The family waited without knowing where he was or how he was being treated. The Haim family account says the three escaped captivity on December 10 after their captors were killed in a clash with Israeli troops. Left in Shejaiya, they moved between buildings for five days while trying to reach Israeli forces. The IDF inquiry separately says troops found a handwritten “Help” note near a tunnel shaft that day and suspected it was an ambush attempt.
04
The December 15 approach
On December 14, drone footage recorded “SOS” and “Help, 3 hostages” on a building about 200 meters from the later shooting site. On December 15, a Times of Israel report says troops mistook Samar Talalka and two other hostages for terrorists and opened fire, killing all three. The IDF inquiry describes the sequence as two killed in the first firing and the third killed after running into a nearby building and coming out when called.
05
His father’s words
Samar’s father Fouad described waiting for his son’s voice and learning that he had been killed. He also spoke about their conversations, Samar’s plans to marry and the work they shared at Nir Am. The Times of Israel reported that Talalka was buried outside Hura on December 16, 2023, the day after he was killed.