Haim Perry

Chaim Peri (Hebrew: חיים פרי) was an Israeli artist and curator. He was abducted in the October 7 attacks and killed while in captivity.

Biography Chaim Peri was born in 1944. After serving in the Nahal Brigade, he moved to southern Israel to help found Nir Oz. He met his first wife, Batya, at the kibbutz. Their daughter, Inbal, was born in 1968, and their son, Lior, in 1973. After their divorce, Peri remarried and had two more daughters. At the time of Peri's death, he was the grandfather of thirteen children.

Career and activities

Peri was a sculptor, filmmaker, and children's book author.

Peri was a volunteer for Road to Recovery, an Israeli charity that transports Palestinians in need of medical care within Israel.

Abduction, captivity and death

Hamas militants abducted Peri from his home in the Nir Oz attack, whereas his wife escaped. Fellow hostage Adina Moshe, released in the 2023 Gaza war ceasefire, later recounted that while arguing with Peri the latter had stated that the hostages were not a priority for Benjamin Netanyahu, and that they would only be released in two years, "because we are leftists".

In December 2023, Hamas released a video featuring Peri and two other elderly hostages from Nir Oz, Amiram Cooper and Yoram Metzger, asking the Israeli government to halt the war and secure their release; three months later, they released another video claiming all three had died in an air strike.

On June 3, 2024, the IDF announced the death of Peri, along with those of Cooper, Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell. In August 2024, the Israel Defense Forces announced they had recovered the remains of six hostages, including Peri, from a tunnel in Khan Younis. The IDF stated they believed their captors executed them during airstrikes during the prior February.