After Son's Death In Hamas Captivity, Israeli Couple Welcomes Baby Using Eggs Frozen 25 Years Ago

The parents of Almog Sarusi, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and later killed in Hamas captivity, have welcomed a baby boy conceived using eggs they had frozen more than 25 years ago. Nira and Yigal Sarusi named their newborn son Lavi during a circumcision ceremony in Ra'anana on Monday. The baby was born on Yom Kippur, just over a week before the ceremony.

The couple, now in their 60s, had four children, including Almog, before the family remembered the eggs that had been frozen during an earlier medical procedure more than two decades ago.

While grieving the loss of their son, the couple decided to locate the frozen eggs and explore the possibility of having another child. After several attempts, they found a surrogate and kept the pregnancy and birth private until the family ceremony, Times of Israel reported. 

The family wrote in the invitation to the Brit Milah, "A miracle happened to us. Thanks to a wonderful surrogate, a son was born to us on Yom Kippur. We will forever carry in our hearts the pain for Almog, may God avenge his blood, but we are full of hope that alongside the pain we will manage to rejoice in the gifts that God has bestowed upon us."

Other details of the birth were revealed on social media by Almog's sister, Amit, and Ra'anana Mayor Chaim Broyde, who attended the ceremony.

"The loss, the pain, the longing lives in us at every moment. Nothing will heal the pain, and life goes on alongside it. So, Almog, you surely already know, because you moved things up there so that it could happen. But a younger brother was also born to you, from Mom and Dad. We will not let evil beat us; we will continue on your path and make you proud," Amit Sarusi wrote on Instagram. 

"At the circumcision ceremony, there was tremendous longing. Tears. Pain. And something else: a baby bringing a huge smile to a family for whom the meaning of the word ‘life' is so profound," Chaim Broyde wrote on Facebook. 

The birth comes nearly three years after Almog was abducted during the Hamas attack on southern Israel. He was 26 at the time and had been attending the Nova music festival.

According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Almog was killed in August 2024 along with five other hostages while they were being held in a tunnel in Gaza. Their bodies were later recovered by Israeli forces.

Almog had reportedly stayed behind during the October 7 attack to help his injured girlfriend, Shahar, who was also killed.

The other hostages killed alongside him were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov and Carmel Gat.