The father of Sgt. Adir Tahar, a 19-year-old Israeli soldier from Jerusalem, said Hamas decapitated his son, then tried to sell his head.
David Tahar told Channel 14, an Israeli television channel, that his son was murdered by terrorists in southern Israel and claimed the gunmen severed his head and took it back to Gaza, according to The Jewish Chronicle. Two and a half months after burying his son’s headless, mutilated body, Israel Defense Forces reportedly recovered Adir Tahar’s head inside a duffel bag filled with tennis balls in a freezer in Gaza. An interrogation of Hamas terrorists later revealed one of them attempted to sell his heads for $10,000, according to the Daily Mail.
David began seeking information about his son online and discovered a horrifying video that confirmed some of his worst fears.
“There’s a video from Telegram. Unfortunately, I found the video of my son, where you can see that my child is without this essential part of him,” the father said, according to The Jewish Chronicle.
“It’s a miracle we were eventually able to recover his head. We recovered the bones, what they found, tested DNA, also found teeth and buried him,” he said.
The grief-stricken father spoke out about the gruesome details and the painful process of collecting his son’s body in parts in an effort to lay him to rest.
BE’ERI, ISRAEL – OCTOBER 14: Israeli soldiers inspect houses that were destroyed in a battle between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants on Saturday’s Hamas attack on the kibbutz on on October 14, 2023 in Be’eri, Israel. Israel has sealed off Gaza and launched sustained retaliatory air strikes, which have killed at least 1,400 people with more than 400,000 displaced, after a large-scale attack by Hamas. On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza by land, sea, and air, killing over 1,300 people and wounding around 2,800. Israeli soldiers and civilians have also been taken hostage by Hamas and moved into Gaza. The attack prompted a declaration of war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the announcement of an emergency wartime government. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
“The terrorists, the barbarians, they beheaded him and took the head to Gaza. I did everything I could, it wasn’t easy, in the end I got a body without a head. I insisted that the army let me see the body,” David said.
Members of the military cautioned him about what he was about to see.
“They tried to explain to me that I should not see it,” he said
“Half an hour before I buried my child, his body arrived at Mount Herzi, I opened the coffin when I was alone,” David said. “I understood then what I was burying. He was unrecognizable.”
His son’s remains had to be identified from his soldier dog tag, as well as a DNA test, due to the extreme mutilation of his body .(RELATED: Doctor Describes ‘Carnage’ At Music Festival Attacked By Hamas)
David proceeded to bury his son for the second time, as his head was added to the burial.
This is one of many reported heinous acts as part of the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.