On his last journey: Thousands accompany Col. Assaf Hamami, who fell in the Hamas attack on October 7, to eternal rest in the military section of the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. Among them are Defense Minister Yoav Galant, Minister Gadi Eisenkot and former IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi Hamami, who is survived by his wife and three children.
The funeral of Col. Assaf Hamami, photo: Coco
Hamami's coffin was carried by officers of his rank and after the military rabbi read a chapter of Psalms, his father Ilan and his brother read Kaddish together in tears.
Galant and Eisenkot at the funeral of Col. Assaf Hamami, photo: Coco
The commander of the Gaza Division, Brigadier General Avia Rosenfeld, eulogized him: "You enlisted in Givati more than twenty years ago since you chose to lead. Destined for greatness, a model of professionalism and humanity. Five years ago, we met on the fence with Al Bureij, a brief conversation and you ran on a mission. You told me you wanted the most operational role. Commanding a brigade on the Gaza border is the highlight.
I didn't change, I didn't dream, even in the worst nightmare, that this would be your last job when you fall near Nirim. You were a net commander, a warrior net. In operations, and combat exercises. At Operation Arrow Shield we met. While firing mortar shells quietly, you continued to command. I knew you could be trusted. It was the same on the bloody Saturday. You're out ahead. In Kibbutz Nirim you fought valiantly, you are Magen Nirim, Magen Ashkel, Magen Yisrael.
Family was important to you. Dear family, perhaps little consolation, Daasaf fell as a hero in the defense of the homeland."
Hamami's body was abducted to Gaza along with the bodies of two soldiers from his command post. His death was determined due to reliable information gathered about the battle in which he fell, and it was the military rabbi who determined that a burial could be conducted for him, based on findings that were found.
After weeks of rumors about a senior officer who was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip, it was cleared for publication that the commander of the southern brigade in the Gaza Division, Colonel Assaf Hamami, was abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7 and is now defined as a "kidnapped casualty by a terrorist organization."
One of his commanders said of him: "Through his conduct, he pretty much saved Kibbutz Nirim and many other settlements. In the reports he gave in his last minutes, he declared war and woke up all the CSOs."
"He was an amazing person, the most professional, the most humble, very human. From the commanders to whom the system saw a distant horizon. It's a huge loss," his commander added.
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