עבENES

Luis Har

On October 7, 2023, at 70, Luis Har was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. He was held hostage in Rafah for 129 days, until Israeli forces broke into the apartment and brought him home. Since then he has been telling his story in Israel and around the world.

About the book Talks & encountersThe Hope necklace
Luis Har
Luis Har in hospital after the rescue, with his family
Reunited with family after the rescue

The story

The moment
the door opened

On the morning of October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Luis Har, then 70, was kidnapped from the home of his partner, Clara Marman, together with Clara, her brother Fernando Marman, her sister Gabriela and Gabriela’s daughter Mia. The three women were released in November 2023.

Luis and Fernando were left behind. For 129 days they were held in an apartment in the heart of Rafah, guarded by armed terrorists. On the night of February 12, 2024, fighters of the Yamam police counter-terror unit, the Shin Bet and the IDF broke into the apartment in Operation Golden Hand and brought them both out alive.

Coming home opened a new road: recovery, reuniting with his four children, three daughters and a son, and his many grandchildren, and life in an Israel that had changed. Today, at 73, Luis has chosen not to stay silent. He wrote Rescued, and he meets communities, students, leaders and journalists in Israel and around the world.

The full story in the book
The abduction07.10.2023From Clara’s home in Nir Yitzhak
129Days in captivity
The rescue12.02.2024Operation Golden Hand

Operation Golden Hand · 12.02.2024

“Luis, IDF! IDF!
We’ve come to take you home.”

February 12, 2024, the heart of Rafah. After 129 days in captivity, this night brought Luis and Fernando home.

  1. Preparing the operation

    Shin Bet intelligence located the apartment in the heart of Rafah where Luis and Fernando were being held. Yamam counter-terror fighters, together with the IDF and the Shin Bet, rehearsed every step again and again.

  2. The breach

    At 01:49 the fighters broke into the second-floor apartment. Within a short time the commander radioed: “The diamonds are in our hands.”

  3. Under fire

    Fighting raged around the building and bombs fell all around. The fighters lay over Luis and Fernando and shielded them with their own bodies.

  4. The way home

    The fighters carried both men out of the building into an armored vehicle and handed them over to IDF forces. From there, a helicopter flew them to Israel.

  5. The reunion

    The IDF told the family, and everyone rushed to the hospital. There, in a moving meeting, Luis was reunited with Clara, his partner, and with his children. The beginning of a new life.

In the middle of the rescue, inside the armored vehicle, one of the soldiers asked Luis: “Luis, are you cold? Are you okay?” Luis answered:
“I’m not cold. My heart is warm.”

The book

Rescued

The Hope That Kept Me Alive in Captivity

On October 7, 2023, seventy-year-old Luis Har was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and found himself in the back of a pickup truck crossing into Gaza, sitting on a pile of rifles. He spent 129 days held captive in a house in the heart of Rafah, guarded by armed Hamas terrorists, until the incredible special forces operation that restored his freedom.

This powerful memoir describes the mental fortitude necessary to survive the worst and remain unbroken – a process that does not end with the escape from captivity. From his roots in Argentina and his peaceful kibbutz life to the endless days in Rafah, Luis lays bare his inner journey and its intersection with the journeys of his family members, the people of Israel, and people of goodwill all around the world.

Rescued is a raw testimony to the power of tikvah (hope) as the one refuge capable of sustaining human dignity in the most difficult moments.

Book language
Buy from Gefen Publishing$33About the book

The installation

Tikva
at Hostages Square

In the square where the whole country waited for the hostages, Luis raised a single word, in giant letters and five colors: Tikva, hope.

The idea was born in front of the HOPE sculpture in New York. At the square, children drew beside the letters, families wrote messages on them, and the Tikva logo grew out of them.

The idea
04.2024A trip to New York
The unveiling
16.08.2024Hostages Square, Tel Aviv
Letters & colors
5ת, ק, ו, ו, ה
Installation page
The Tikva installation at Hostages Square
Hostages Square, Tel Aviv
Luis Har with arms open beside the Tikva installation

The installation

The Tikva installation at Hostages Square

Tikva
at Hostages Square

In April 2024, on an advocacy trip to New York, Luis stood before Robert Indiana’s HOPE sculpture and was photographed with a Hope sign. Back home, people kept telling him how much hope he gave them, and the idea was born.

On August 16, 2024 it was unveiled at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv: the Hebrew word Tikva in giant blocks, in the symbol’s five colors. Letters and drawings children had sent Luis were added to it, and tables beside it invited families to draw and write their own messages.

The installation is Luis’s own initiative, and it came to life with the support of Fiverr, the Tzabar 2.0 service-year program and Palraz Engineering.

“Our people need hope so much.”

Luis Har, at the unveiling

The Hope necklace

The Necklace

The necklace grew out of Luis's story and the message that has stayed with him since the rescue: never lose hope, and believe that everything is still possible.

The pendant is based on the Tikva (Hope) symbol, with a small Star of David worked into the design. An everyday piece, clean and delicate, that you can wear without explaining, and carry its meaning with you every day.

Color
$114Details
Hope Necklace · Gold

Advocacy

Around the World

From Buenos Aires to Beijing.

Since coming home, Luis has faced audiences across North and South America, Europe and Asia. He tells them what Hamas terrorists did on October 7, what he endured in captivity, and why Israel never gives up on any of its people. The globe marks some of the stops.

23 Stops · 14 Countries

Next journey · October 6

The Latin America advocacy tour

On October 6, Luis sets out on an official advocacy tour of Latin America, to tell what happened on October 7 as accurately as possible.

GuatemalaPeruDominican Republic

Where he has been ·

Vatican City

Meeting Pope Francis

Where he has been

The book abroadThe book is out in Spanish and English too, and more languages are on the way. To tell the story, so the truth comes to light and hope reaches every corner of the world.עברית · English · EspañolThe book →

Luis Har at an evening event, the yellow ribbon pinned to his shirt

Community work

Standing with the soldiers
and the next generation

When Luis is home, most of his time goes to people. He meets IDF soldiers at their units and bases, volunteers with wounded soldiers and IDF disabled veterans, and talks with pupils and students across the country. He comes to thank the soldiers, and to tell the children about hope.

With IDF soldiers

Meetings with naval commandos, Armored Corps troops and cadets, and volunteering with wounded soldiers, IDF disabled veterans and lone soldiers.

Children and young people

Conversations with pupils, officer cadets and university students across the country.

Communities & testimony Personal testimony in kibbutzim, moshavim, synagogues and community centers, from the Galilee to the Negev.Remembrance Memorial ceremonies and encounters with Holocaust survivors and bereaved families.

Luis Har and Clara beside the flags of Argentina and Israel

Even in the
darkest moments,
you can choose
to go on.

Talks

Meeting
Luis

Portrait of Luis Har

Luis shares his story in schools, on IDF bases, in communities and at memorial ceremonies, in Israel and abroad. Anyone wishing to host him is welcome to write here.

Tell us who you are, what kind of meeting and when, and we will get back to you.

Book a talk or a meeting

In the media

Videos & articles

Interviews and testimony by Luis in Israeli and international media.

Luis Har with his grandchildren in the garden

This book exists because of all of you.

And so does my life.

We must never lose faith.

We must never lose hope.

Thank you, Luis.