Herut Nimrodi, mother of hostage Tamir Nimrodi, named him as the Israeli hostage with serious concerns for his life, during an interview with Kan on Thursday.
Nimrodi, 20, was abducted by invading terrorists from near Erez Crossing at only 18 years old alongside Ron Sherman and Nik Baizer. Both Baizer and Sherman were mistakenly killed during an IDF strike.
He was taken barefoot, in his pyjamas and without his glasses. He was serving as an education NCO at the Coordination and Liaison Administration on the Gaza border.
Herut’s announcement came after US President Donald Trump claimed that there were only 21 living hostages in Gaza, three fewer than the 24 previously understood to be alive – although the condition of Nimrodi remains unknown.
The abduction of Tamir Nimrodi
Herut discovered her son’s abduction through social media, she told LBC in October.
"My youngest daughter, she was 14 at the time, came screaming and saying, 'My brother is being abducted. My brother is being abducted!',” Herut recounted. "She came to me with this video she's seen on Instagram from the GoPro cameras. I saw my son in his pajamas. He was barefoot. He was hiding his face so they wouldn't hit him because they brutally punched him and his two friends.”
“The last footage we saw was of him being dragged over his friend's dead body through the brick walls into the Gaza Strip,” she told The Sun. "They pushed him outside of the shelter with their hands in the air. They put all three of them near a wall with their hands behind their heads.
"They started to kick them. That's where I got the footage of three of them.
"After that they grabbed him by his neck and took him running very far through the break walls. He was paying what went through his mind. I can't even start to imagine."
Nimrodi’s mother has often relayed to Israeli media what his role meant to him, particularly as he struggled with ADHD for much of his life.
“It’s not that there’s new information,” she told reporters on a Zoom meeting organized by the Hostages Family Forum. “They are just mentioning the three hostages for whom there have been no signs of life since October 7.
“Obviously we fear for his fate and are extremely concerned. But since there is really nothing new about this and it is not based on any new evidence, we are choosing to continue to hope and await substantial news. Every political figure needs to know that words have much meaning, and that they must treat this with caution.”
“The last sign of life is a video of him being dragged on his feet, in his pajamas and without glasses. Since then, no sign. I can’t even begin to describe what I’m going through,” she added, “He always said I was his best friend. We had a rare connection. I pray for the chance to have moments with him again. The emptiness in my heart is indescribable.”
Nimrodi’s mother, sisters Amit and Mika and father Alon await his return.
