Avi Amar

Chief Superintendent Avi Amar, 54, from Otzem, a commander in the Israel Police Yoav Unit, was killed fighting Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.

His loved ones said that when the air raid sirens began early Saturday morning, Amar headed straight to the front lines, fighting first in Sderot, then Kibbutz Kfar Aza, before heading to Be’eri, where he was slain.

His family said he kept them updated throughout the day, until he stopped answering around 2 p.m. A week later, his body was located and he was confirmed dead. He was buried on October 15 in Moshav Noga in the south.

He is survived by his wife Pazit and six children, ranging in age from 22 to 7, as well as his parents, Chana and Yisrael, and 10 siblings. His family described him as a dedicated family man, who loved nature and the outdoors and particularly horseback riding.

The final photo taken of Amar on October 7 showed him kneeling and embracing a distraught IDF soldier overwhelmed by the sights of the Hamas onslaught in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

“We don’t have any idea who took the photo, they just made sure it got to us,” Amar’s brother, Lior Amar, told Ynet. “The photo was taken about an hour before he was killed in Kibbutz Be’eri. The final photo of Avi encapsulates exactly who Avi was, a warrior who we lost.”

Lior said that the photo shows “on the one hand, he is embracing and hugging strongly the IDF soldier who was experiencing shell shock, and on the other hand there is a lot of tenderness. I see in this photo my brother Avi who was full of heart, who provided a moment of calm to an IDF fighter, amid all the chaos and the gunfire of terrorists on that black Saturday.”

A police official, identified only as M., told Ynet that he witnessed the photo being taken: “In the middle of the fighting, a soldier came to us from inside Kfar Aza and started crying, and Avi immediately got down on the road, hugged him and told him: ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get through this, I’m protecting you.'”

Another officer said that amidst the fighting that day when the officers were in desperate need of water, he entered an abandoned gas station, grabbed bottles of water and called the owner to ask him to charge him for six bottles: “This is what characterized Avi. He was determined to rescue officers and civilians and amid all of the horrors he did not give up and kept his cool and his humanity until he was killed.”

Amar’s son, Magen David Adom paramedic Itay Amar, also headed out to save lives on that Saturday morning. He told a local Ashdod news outlet that he continued to work all week while his father was considered missing to treat those wounded in the attack and the fighting: “I know that Dad would be proud of me for the lives I saved on that terrible Saturday, and I am the most proud of him in the world for those he saved.”

His daughter, Stav Amar, told Ynet that during the shiva mourning period, “so many police officers came and told stories of his bravery, of the kind of guy he was.” When they received that final photo, “We stopped breathing because we know that hug so well, we know how it feels… I’ve been in that hug dozens of times, you’re not afraid of anything in that hug.”

Stav said the family feels lucky that he “left us six siblings strong. That was his life’s work, to ensure we were united and loving and together, so we are together in the good times and together in the difficult times.”

She said there are “so many stories of his bravery and his fighting but I want people to know, that in addition to that tough facade, he was an incredible and sensitive and loving father, and the first to help, and the first to give advice, and I will miss his hug forever.”
Source: The Times of Israel