"He was a friend and a brother, and he jumped headfirst into every event. Saving lives was in his blood."
On Monday morning, tributes poured in for Dolev Yehud, whose body was found in Kibbutz Nir Oz and identified nearly eight months after the October 7 massacre.
Yehud served as a volunteer medic for United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom emergency service for several years. During the brutal October 7 terror attacks when his community was overrun by the Nukhba terrorists, Dolev left his house in an attempt to save lives. He left his pregnant wide, Sigal, and three young children between the ages of 5 and 9 in the family's safe room.
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Dolev Yehud
(Photo: Spokesperson of the headquarters of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Dani Shmuel, head of the Gaza Periphery Branch at United Hatzalah, paid tribute to his friend. "Just before October 7, I was supposed to choose an outstanding volunteer, and two weeks before the attack Dolev was our branch's outstanding, because he deserved it. He always made sure to fill his bag with of equipment, in case, God forbid, he would have to take care of someone and not have what he needs. He volunteered with us for several years and always made sure to help and take care of others," he said.
Shmuel recounted what happened on October 7. "We called everyone who could come and help, but the instruction I gave was to leave only with protective equipment. Dolev came to me and said he had to help because there were wounded. He left and after an hour and a half I tried to reach the volunteers who had reported helping, and everyone answered me except for one. I tried to reach Dolev and I didn't have any communication with him, not even by phone. I went up to the organization's central dispatch and asked them to locate him."
According to Shmuel, after two days with no contact from Yehud, they thought that the worst had happened and that he had been kidnapped or killed. "After two days, there was still no communication with him and no forces were able to discover what happened because there was still fighting," he said. "As the days passed, we began to understand that he was missing. We didn't know what to hold on to because there was no information from anybody. The organization tried to do an investigation and found nothing."
Yehud's fourth daughter was born only nine days after the massacre. "I want to thank Dolev's family, Sigal his wife and children. From the moment I reported his absence, the organization was in constant contact and supported the family and they will receive more support in the future as well," Shmuel said. "I don't know what happened in his last moments, we also tried to understand through other people what happened, and we were unsuccessful. From October 7, there was chaos all over the Gaza border and no one knew how many were wounded and how many were kidnapped. There was no indication. He was a volunteer, a friend, a brother and always jumped first to any event, to take care, to help and most importantly to save lives - it was in his blood and DNA."
The Eshkol Regional Council said in a statement that "with a heavy heart we received the difficult news of the murder of the late Dolev Yehud of Nir Oz on October 7 and the discovery of his body on the kibbutz grounds. Dolev, 35, third generation in Nir Oz, was a family man and a devoted friend who was especially loved by all his relatives. I love a person who is endowed with a fine sense of humor along with extraordinary seriousness in every task he has undertaken, in his work, for his community and as a volunteer. Together with the Yehud family and the Nir Oz community we wished and prayed for a different end. We are in pain and participate in the unbearably heavy sorrow of the Yehud family and the Nir Oz community."
The IDF spokesman, who announced Yehud's murder, stated that his body was located at the end of scientific identification conducted by the Missing Persons Tracking System unit and a thorough analysis by the IDF in coordination with anthropological experts. Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority were also involved in the process of identifying and locating the body. With the announcement of the identification of Dolev's body, the estimated number of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip is 124
His sister, Arbel Yehud, is still held captive by Hamas.
Bodies and parts of bodies were found in unrecognizable condition in the kibbutz and other border areas in the first days of the war. The IDF had tried to determine whether Yehud had been killed or kidnapped into Gaza for several months. After receiving no signs through various channels that he was being held in Gaza, the IDF began to investigate whether his remains remained in Israeli territory.
His DNA was tested against some of the unidentified remains with no conclusive results, leading to repeated tests and further scientific investigation.