JNS
Yuval Buchstab will present electric kalimbas developed with his slain brother Yagev at the Jerusalem Design Week’s matchmaker project.
“We realized that Yagev was executed on the day that the Israel Defense Forces brought his body back,” Yuval Buchstab, whose brother was murdered by Hamas in captivity, told JNS on Sunday.
On Jul. 22, Yagev’s family received an official message informing them that he had been killed. Last month, the IDF rescued his body from a tunnel in southern Gaza.
His parents attended a meeting in early September during which they were informed that the autopsy revealed the presence of bullet fragments inside Yagev’s body.
“We are still waiting for the full investigation. These things take time,” said Yuval.
Yagev, one of three siblings, lived in Kibbutz Nirim together with his wife, Rimon Kirsht Buchstab. On Oct. 7, around 8:30 a.m., the couple spotted terrorists around their house. Shortly thereafter, the pair went dark.
“There was no electricity in the kibbutz, we didn't know if they had run out of battery or if something had happened to them,” Yuval explained.
Once the IDF arrived at Kibbutz Nirim, Yagev’s father made his way to the couple’s house accompanied by an officer, only to find out that they were gone.
“There were no signs of struggle, no blood in their house. We understood that they had been abducted. With all the chaos happening on that day, this was the most optimistic scenario,” said Yuval.
A week later, the family received a message from the IDF confirming their assumption.
On Oct. 23, Hamas released two elderly women for "humanitarian reasons." Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper subsequently revealed that they had been held with Yagev and Rimon. Later that month, Hamas released a propaganda video featuring Rimon alongside Danielle Aloni and Yelena Trufanov.
On Nov. 28, Rimon was freed as part of a weeklong ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“After Rimon’s release, we started getting comprehensive information on what was happening inside. We understood that they were both physically okay, Yagev had been struggling but being together helped them cope,” Yuval told JNS.
At first, the couple was held in a house above ground. Then, they were taken into a tunnel together with elderly people from Kibbutz Nir Oz and Nirim. At one point, the couple were locked inside a cage. When Rimon was freed, Yagev was still alive and physically unharmed.
After the IDF entered Khan Yunis in December, the forces located a tunnel where Yagev had been held with Rimon prior to her release.
“We knew it was that tunnel because the army found DNA samples and Rimon recognized it. There was no doubt. From that point, we realized that we did not know where Yagev was,” said Yuval.
In March, Hamas published a propaganda video announcing Yagev’s death, which Rimon believes was recorded in October.
“The clip surfaced on Telegram. We were at ‘Hostage Square' [in Tel Aviv] after Shabbat," said Yuval. "My aunt saw it first. She took my mother and uncle aside. We knew something was happening, then they shared it with us. An IDF officer arrived quickly to be with us and try to calm us down," he added.
“We locked ourselves in a room by the square to disconnect from others. There were a lot of questions and confusion and we needed a moment to come back to our senses,” Yuval continued.
“From that point on, it was very hard to live in uncertainty. Before it happened we held on to the hope that everything would be fine. Then, our hope began to crack,” he added.
The process of confirming Hamas’s allegation was gradual.
“Almost two months before we received the written notice in July, we got messages from the army saying that it seemed Yagev had been murdered but that they were not able to confirm it yet,” said Yuval.
“We started the grieving process without being able to tell anyone. I felt cut off from my entourage. It was hard to hide it from people around me. I was reluctant to actively participate in protests for the release of the hostages knowing it wouldn’t go through for us,” he continued.
Yuval explained that the family had already sat shiva (the seven-day Jewish mourning period) but were still deep into the grieving process when Yagev’s body was returned.
“For us, bringing back his body was no relief. It was after we lost the fight to bring him back alive. We had lost our hope,” he said.
Yuval described his brother, a musician and sound technician who built experimental musical instruments, as a bit of a mad scientist who learned everything through trial and error.
“He was very gentle and always cared for the weak. He was involved in political and social issues. These past years he and Rimon found dogs and cats to rescue. It was their family, five dogs and five cats,” said Yuval.
As part of his effort to keep Yagev's memory alive, Yuval will be participating in the Jerusalem Design Week’s matchmaker project connecting musicians to manufacturers in the industry. He will be presenting three electrical kalimbas based on a design he developed four years ago with his brother.
“We built one together. After the war I found it in his office before we emptied their house. The kalimba is a very pleasant and relaxing instrument. I created three copies with different sounds for people to come play it together and create some sort of music in his memory,” said Yuval.
“It was not easy doing it alone. It led me to face and learn to cope with the loss. Yagev used to deal with the sound and I would build the instrument. I realized that he is not here anymore, I can no longer ask him questions. I had to rely on the memory of him,” he added.
