Human bones found in Kfar Aza; family hopes they belong to son murdered on Oct. 7

During visit to site, human bones, including skull, found by family members of Nirel Zini, whose head was cut off by terrorists during massacre; his body was buried without it

Human bones have been found in the Gaza border community of Kfar Aza, including part of a skull, according to Hebrew media reports on Wednesday.

Family members of murdered resident Nirel Zini told media outlets they discovered the remains during a visit to the site. They were taken for identification.

Zini’s brothers told the outlets that they hope the remains belong to their sibling. Zini’s head was cut off by terrorists during the October 7, 2023, attack on the community, and his body was buried without it.

Zini was murdered alongside his girlfriend Niv Raviv, 27.

The couple, who met while they were in the army, had moved to the kibbutz earlier in 2023 seeking a quiet, simple life. Raviv had been pursuing a master’s degree in psychology, while Zini was hoping to study law.

Zini was wounded while serving in the West Bank on October 10, 2015. From then on, each year the couple would hold a day of thanksgiving on that day to celebrate his survival and rehabilitation, reported the Ynet news site.

In 2023, on October 10, Zini had been planning to propose, their families said. Raviv had wanted to get engaged on October 10 and married one year later, on October 10, 2024. Instead, they were both murdered just three days before the planned proposal. Their families waited a week before they received the news that their bodies had been found, and they were ultimately buried side by side in Netanya.

More than 250 terrorists invaded the community, killing 62 residents and kidnapping 19 to the Gaza Strip. In all, some 1,200 people in southern Israel were slaughtered that day, and 251 were kidnapped to Gaza, while terrorists carried out serious atrocities.