October 7 · Personal story
Tomer Yaakov Ahimas
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Nirim
Current outcome
Returned for burial · July 24, 2024
His remains were recovered in Gaza and brought to Israel for burial on July 24, 2024.
01
Life before
Born in Lehavim on June 24, 2003, Tomer was the son of Anat and Moshe and Amir’s twin; Maya, Gil and Eyal were his older siblings. He grew up and went to school in Lehavim, then continued at Eshel Hanasi agricultural youth village. The school’s farm work suited him, his family said, and he treated people of every age and role as equals. Younger children he helped teach at his elementary school admired him. Tomer was a strong student in physics, a quality athlete who enjoyed basketball, football and tennis, and a Maccabi Haifa supporter who watched matches with family and friends. He listened to music across genres and joined the Scouts when young. With Amir, he shared friends and hobbies, and the teasing and arguments that belonged to a close twin relationship. During his service he met Shai-Lee, and the two shared a close, loving relationship and planned a life together.
02
Service and October 7
Tomer enlisted on December 8, 2021, volunteered for combat service in the Nahal Brigade and later served in the Southern Brigade of the Gaza Division. He was proud to have a combat assignment and felt responsible for protecting the country and its residents. After training, he became the signaler in the brigade commander’s forward command post. On the morning of October 7, Tomer was at the division base at Re’im when alerts sounded. He went with Southern Brigade commander Col. Asaf Hamami and fellow command-post soldier Kiril Brodski to Nirim. They fought against dozens of attackers; their resistance gave residents time to organize and escape. At 7:05 a.m., Tomer radioed that Hamami had been wounded and needed immediate evacuation. Tomer and Kiril continued to fight, moved Hamami to shelter and applied a tourniquet. All three were killed in Nirim.
03
His body held in Gaza
Tomer was killed in Nirim; his body was taken to Gaza. For the next 53 days, his family waited for news while the body remained there. On November 28, 2023, the IDF announced that Tomer, Kiril Brodski and Shaked Dahan had fallen on October 7 and that their bodies were held by Hamas. The announcement ended uncertainty about the three soldiers’ deaths, but their families still had no remains to bury. Tomer’s father, Moshe, and twin brother Amir later spoke publicly about their grief and the long effort to bring him home for burial.
04
Return
On July 24, 2024, Israeli security forces recovered Tomer’s body in Gaza and brought it back to Israel. The operation also recovered Kiril Brodski’s remains. The family held his funeral the following day. His return made it possible for his family to bury him in Lehavim, the place where he had been born and raised.
05
Aftermath
Tomer was buried in the military section of Lehavim cemetery on July 25, 2024. He was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant and was survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters. His father’s eulogy called him a hero of Nirim and remembered the ordinary closeness he wanted back: a joke, a backgammon game or a playful argument with Amir. Amir spoke of his twin as his closest friend and said he would preserve the story of who Tomer was. At Nirim, community representatives honored the families of Tomer, Kiril and Asaf Hamami for the three men’s defense of the kibbutz.