Oded Lifschitz, 84, peace activist and journalist, murdered by Hamas

Oded Lifshitz, one of the founding members of Kibbutz Nir Oz,  died after being abducted during the October 7 massacre by Hamas, part of the surprise assault that sparked the ongoing Gaza conflict. His remains were brought back to Israel last week, following confirmation of his death.

Alongside his wife Yocheved, Lifschitz was taken captive after Hamas militants reportedly broke into the couple's safe room, and Oded was shot in the hand and Yocheved removed from a bed. 

The couple was separated, with Yocheved last seeing Lifschitz lying at the edge of their property before she was taken on the back of a motorcycle into Gaza, barefoot and without her glasses. Hamas militants protected her from angry Gazans. She was held in a tunnel with other kibbutz members, given food and mattresses, and met Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who assured them of an exchange deal. Yocheved was released last year as part of the first hostage exchange, while Oded’s fate remained uncertain until February 2025.

His death was confirmed when his remains were handed over by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement. With the families' approval, Israel later announced that the hostages who would be returned were Shiri Bibas and her children, Kfir and Ariel, and Oded Lifschitz.

According to Jewish News Syndicate it was later discovered that Oded was initially held in an apartment in Khan Yunis, but after 20 days in captivity, when his health deteriorated, his whereabouts became unknown.

The Lifschitz’s family, deeply impacted by the horror of the October 7 attack, shared their grief when his body was finally returned.

His wife, Yocheved, spoke of the heartbreaking events. “After 50 days, when the released women came out, it turned out that one of them, a member of Nir Oz, was with him,” Yocheved recalled.

Israeli freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz (C), 85, takes part in a protest with her family members (Picture: Getty)AFP via Getty Images

“She told us that he was alive and said that he functioned well and helped her a lot because she was having a very difficult time. On the 20th day, he felt unwell, and they dragged him out of the room. Since then, his whereabouts have been unknown, and we know nothing about him.”

Born in Haifa, Lifschitz’s graduated from the Hebrew Reali School in 1957. He life was shaped by his service in the 50th Battalion Paratroopers Brigade. In 1972, he stood up for Bedouins who were expelled from the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli authorities.

A decade later, during the Lebanese civil war and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, he became one of the first journalists to report on the Sabra and Shatila massacres, where Israeli-backed Christian militias killed between 800 and 2,000 Palestinians in Beirut refugee camps.

His journalism career ended up lasting several decades, including significant work at the now-defunct newspaper Al HaMishmar and as a broadcaster for Army Radio.

In addition to his work as a journalist, he was a fierce advocate for peace, and in 1955, he helped establish Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he served as coordinator and treasurer. Together with his wife Yocheved, Lifschitz created a well-known cactus garden that remains a cherished symbol of their dedication to the kibbutz.

Their grandson, Daniel, who was once a goalkeeper for Israeli soccer clubs and the national U21 team, shared, "My grandfather came to Nir Oz in 1956. The kibbutz was the life’s work of both him and my grandmother."

Oded was also deeply committed to peace activism and was instrumental in efforts to help Palestinian children, volunteering with the Road to Recovery organisation, which provided transportation for sick Palestinian children to Israeli hospitals for treatment.

On Wednesday, Yocheved received a peace award for her campaigning for the hostages release, she said: "Oded was a great fighter for peace. He had very good relations with Palestinians and the thing that hurts the most is they betrayed him."

The news of his death was met with profound sorrow by his daughter, Sharone, an artist based in London, who had been a tireless advocate for his release.

“It is hard enough being the adult daughter of hostages – I cannot imagine being the parent of one. I know that amid the joy of witnessing Doron, Emily and Romi embrace their mothers, other parents, waiting agonisingly for their children, can find the reunions hard to watch,” Sharon wrote in The Guardian last month.

“My mum tells me when she closes her eyes at night that she is back in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza, with the hostages she left behind. 'Until they are all back,' she says, 'I cannot escape the tunnels.’ We are in this together.”

Sharone, who had held multiple press conferences over the last 500 days pleading for the return of her parents, reflected on the painful realities of having her family torn apart. “You have to be a special sort of person to take an 85-year-old out of her bed,” she said in a press conference soon after their abduction. “They had, she said, ‘taken her out and disconnected from her oxygen and loaded her on to a motorbike.’”

Oded’s son, Yizhar, expressed the deep pain of losing his father under such tragic circumstances.

“His life ended in a tragic and humiliating, undeserved, despicable way. So did many from the Kibbutz Nir Oz community. His house was burned down, his wife was kidnapped with beatings that he must have seen. Terrible. Without the family, without children, without closure.”

His family said they could now mourn for a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, but after "503 agonising days of uncertainty", they had "hoped and prayed for a different outcome".

His legacy as a peace advocate and devoted family man will continue to resonate. Lifschitz leaves behind his wife Yocheved, his four children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

Oded Lifschitz Born May 11 1940, date of death unknown