Israel mourns Tzachi Idan, slain Israeli hostage whose daughter died in his arms

Tsahi Idan, an Israeli hostage with British family, will be laid to rest today in Kibbutz Einat, next to his daughter Maayan, 18, who was murdered by Hamas on October 7.

Idan was 49 years old when he was taken captive from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz after witnessing his daughter's brutal killing. His family sought shelter in their safe room when Hamas stormed their house, shooting Maayan through the door before abducting her father covered in her blood. The terrorists filmed the entire attack on the family and livestreamed it on social media.

Idan was held captive in Gaza for 510 days and signs of life had been received over that time.

His relatives, including British-based cousin Adam Ma’anit and his wife Heidi Bachram, campaigned tirelessly for his return, only to learn that he was being brought back in a coffin this week.

“Our two guardians fell protecting those they loved most of all,” they wrote. “They are now reunited. Father and daughter. Two guardian angels protecting us still.”

Hundreds gathered on Friday at Bloomfield Stadium, where Idan’s beloved football team, Hapoel Tel Aviv dedicated a seat in his memory. His funeral will proceed through central Israel where hundreds have lined the streets before his burial.

His wife Gali and younger children Yael (12) and Shahar (10) all witnessed the murder of Maayan.

Speaking at the ceremony, Idan’s sister Noam expressed the family’s anguish: “I’m sorry, from all of us, that you came back in a coffin, and not on your feet, as you left.” She urged the Israeli government to “bring back all of the hostages as quickly as possible,” calling it the “most important struggle we have.”

Writing ahead of the funeral, Ma’anit and Bachram remembered Maayan, who had turned 18 four days before she was slaughtered.

“She bravely defended her family alongside her father. They both held the door of the shelter they were hiding in from the rampaging murderous ghouls beyond,” they said.

“We now know that Tsachi ultimately paid the same price as his precious firstborn. Tragically not before suffering the worst torment that any loving parent could ever experience on this mortal plane. Who knows what further cruelties he had to endure in captivity in those dark airless hell tunnels.”

The Brighton-based couple wrote about the torment that families of the victims of Hamas terror have experienced since October 7.

“For those of us who loved them most of all – a pain so immense. Our hearts shattered into a million shards. Our souls laden, our feet leaden, treading through the day barefoot on the splintered glass of incalculable agony and grief.

“We move through the day now vacillating between bouts of sobbing and silent screaming. An amalgam of red hot rage and vicious sorrow.

Tsachi Idan was kidnapped alive from his home, his daughter's blood still on his hands after witnessing her murder with his wife Gali and children Yael (12) and Shahar (10).[Missing Credit]

“We plunge our molten grief into the cooling waters of family, friends, community, and nation. Such is how a steely determination is tempered and forged.

“Our work is not yet finished. Other families are suffering. Our enlarged family, brought together through common purpose and shared pain requires our aid. Other fathers are suffering alone, caged, and in agonising pain. Other children are crying out in fear and longing for the warm embrace of familial love.

“We grieve. We mourn. We sob. We scream. We rend our clothes and pound our fists into the earth at the senselessness of it all. Then we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and rejoin the fight. For Tsachi. For Ma’ayan. For Guy. For all those we lost on that grim seventh of ten and all those since.

“Be not afraid – guardian angels watch over us.

“Thank you to all of you who have walked alongside us. Who have stood with us throughout. We feel your embrace across continents and seas. We see your light guide us through the dark.

“Though there are cracks in our hearts, that’s how the light gets in. Thank you for shining so bright.”