October 7 · Personal story
Yossi Sharabi
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Be’eri
Current outcome
Returned for burial · October 13, 2025
His identified remains returned to Israel for burial on 13 October 2025.
01
Life before
Yosef “Yossi” Sharabi was born and raised in southern Tel Aviv in a close family. As an adult he chose to make his home in Kibbutz Be’eri, following his brother Eli. Family members remembered a quiet, modest and attentive man who valued the shared life and mutual help of the kibbutz. In Be’eri, Yossi met Nira; they built a home and raised three daughters. The family enjoyed gatherings and trips with relatives who also lived in the kibbutz. According to the family memorial, Yossi took part in community roles, including committee work. Relatives and friends recalled his calm presence, sense of humor and willingness to listen and help. Yossi worked for many years at the Be’eri printing house. He started as a machine operator and later became its marketing manager. Outside work, he loved football, especially Maccabi Tel Aviv as well as teams abroad, and watched matches with his daughters. In later years he also enjoyed surfing, which gave him time and quiet by the sea. His family described a connection to religious traditions and the kibbutz synagogue.
02
Abduction
On 7 October 2023, Yossi and his family sheltered in their home as attackers entered Be’eri. They were forced from the safe room and led outside. Yossi was taken to Gaza in a black vehicle with Ofir Engel, his daughter Yuval’s partner, and neighbor Amit Shani. His wife Nira and daughters survived; his brother Eli was abducted from a separate home. KAN’s minute-by-minute account records the household’s safe-room sequence. Yossi was taken alive, so his death belongs to a later event.
03
Captivity
The National Insurance Institute records 10 January 2024 as Yossi’s date of death. In January 2024, Israeli authorities confirmed that he had died in captivity. Hamas had published a video claiming he and Itay Svirsky were killed by an Israeli strike. A later IDF inquiry said an airstrike collapsed a nearby building; the collapse likely reached the adjoining building where Yossi was held, but investigators could not rule out his captors killing him.
04
Return
Yossi’s identified remains returned to Israel on 13 October 2025. His body had been held in Gaza after his death for more than twenty months. On 27 October, relatives and community members buried him at Kibbutz Be’eri after a funeral procession. The return made burial possible, but it came after a long period in which the family had confirmation of his death without his remains.
05
Aftermath
Yossi was buried at Be’eri on 27 October 2025. His family remembers the printing house where he worked, football with his brothers, surfing, the three daughters he raised with Nira and plans for travel together. Fellow captive Amit Shani said Yossi tried to care for the younger people taken with him. His wife and daughters could mourn him at a grave in the kibbutz he had chosen as home.