17 Facts About Oded Lifshitz

Oded Lifshitz was born in Haifa and later served in the Israeli military's 50th Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade.

Oded Lifshitz worked for Al HaMishmar, and later broadcast on Army Radio.

On 7 October 2023, Lifshitz was kidnapped in the Nir Oz massacre, part of the surprise attack on Israel.

Oded Lifshitz's body was returned to Israel in February 2025, as part of the 2025 Gaza war ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange.

Oded Lifshitz grew up in Haifa and graduated from the city's Hebrew Reali School in 1957.

Oded Lifshitz participated in the Hashomer Hatzair in his youth, and served in the 50th Battalion of the Parachute Nahal.

Oded Lifshitz was one of the founding members of Kibbutz Nir Oz in 1955, serving as both coordinator and treasurer early on in the village's history.

Oded Lifshitz defended Bedouin residents of Rafah when the IDF attempted to evacuate the Sinai Peninsula and was an on-the-grounds journalist who reported on the 1982 refugee camp massacre in Beirut.

Oded Lifshitz prepared articles for the radio program "A Light Hour on Economics", which broadcast on Army Radio.

Oded Lifshitz was married to Yocheved, a photographer and former physical education teacher.

One of their grandchildren, Daniel Oded Lifshitz, is a former footballer who had played for the Israeli national under-21 team.

Hamas militants reportedly broke into the couple's safe room, and Oded Lifshitz was shot in the hand and Yocheved removed from a bed.

The couple was separated; Yocheved last saw Oded Lifshitz lying at the edge of their property before she was put on the back of a motorcycle and taken into Gaza without her shoes or glasses, and was protected from angry Gazans by the Hamas militants.

Oded Lifshitz was reportedly kept in a tunnel with other members of the kibbutz, where they were provided with mattresses and some food and reportedly met Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Oded Lifshitz was reportedly held in an apartment in Khan Yunis for about twenty days, before his health deteriorated and his condition and whereabouts became unknown.

In May 2024, Sharone Oded Lifshitz criticized the apparent lack of action by the Israeli government, and stated her belief that the hostages had become pawns for the government.

Oded Lifshitz believed her father could have been returned from Gaza if the Israeli government had acted earlier and with more focus on the hostages.