He helped to found Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he lived and was taken hostage from. It was a place where he was well-known for the cacti that he grew, the piano he played and the grandchildren he adored.

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the October 7 attacks and 251 others, including Oded and Yocheved, taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Oded’s wife Yocheved, who was freed as a hostage by Hamas in 2023, met then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar while held in the tunnels under Gaza – and told him he should be ashamed of himself.

The British lawyers supporting the family said “Yocheved must be the only person to have met Sinwar, Netanyahu and the Pope, and given them all a piece of her mind. That is the kind of extraordinary person she is.”

On Wednesday, as she received a peace award for her campaigning for the hostages, she said: “Oded was a great fighter for peace. He had very good relations with Palestinians and the thing that hurts the most is they betrayed him.”

His family said they could now mourn for a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, but after “503 agonising days of uncertainty”, they had “hoped and prayed for a different outcome.”