Two and a half years after the deaths of Givati Reconnaissance Unit soldiers Staff Sgt. Ori Gerby and Staff Sgt. Oriya Ayimalk Goshen in the Gaza Strip, Goshen’s mother, Yafit, revealed at a Memorial Day ceremony that her son was killed during Operation Red Heart in January 2024, an operation to rescue the Bibas family. It was later determined that the mother, Shiri, and her children, 4-year-old Ariel and 9-month-old Kfir, had already been killed, apparently about a month after the October 7 attack.
Speaking at the ceremony, Goshen said: “Dear families, distinguished audience, I am the mother of Oriya Goshen, a staff sergeant in the Givati reconnaissance unit, who fell in heroic combat in Khan Younis during Operation Red Heart while rescuing hostages from the Bibas family. I stand here at Yad Labanim, where the walls are soaked with longing. I stand here as an inseparable part of Israel’s bereaved families. Over the past year, bereavement has become a daily reality that burns the heart.
“When Oriya took part in Operation Red Heart to rescue hostages, he was not only defending the country’s borders — he was closing a historical circle. The child who grew up with a longing for Jerusalem gave his life, and our responsibility as a society is to be worthy of the sacrifice of Oriya and all the fallen. We must have unity among the people.”
After the ceremony, his parents, Yafit and Ayoub Goshen, told ynet: “We only recently learned that he fell in an operation to rescue members of the Bibas family. We were told three months ago, after the investigation, because it had been prohibited. They also told us the name of the operation. We didn’t know it was connected to the redheads.” They added that they are considering meeting the Bibas family.
They described their son as having been born in Jerusalem, “a very values-driven, social and idealistic child” who served as a counselor in Bnei Akiva, a religious Zionist youth movement. “He was a natural leader who loved people and bringing them together. It didn’t matter what religion someone was, their background, whether man or woman. He loved connecting people and taking action,” they said. He volunteered with the elderly and in hospitals, often playing music to cheer patients.
“He was a true fighter for justice who defended the weak and marginalized,” they added, noting he also took part in protests calling for the return of Avera Mengistu, an Israeli civilian held in Gaza for years, who was released only after Goshen’s death. “We are people of faith, and I believe he saw it from above and was happy. Our message, and that of the fallen, is unity and love.”
The ceremony opening Memorial Day events for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of attacks was held Monday at Yad Labanim in Jerusalem, attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Memorial Day ceremony at Yad Labanim
(Photo: Marc Israel Sellem, The Jerusalem Post)
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Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit at the ceremony
(Photo: Marc Israel Sellem, The Jerusalem Post)
Addressing bereaved families, Netanyahu said: “The wound is deeper than time. Time passes but does not erase the moment of the bitter news that our loved ones are no longer alive. The longing is present every day.” He referred to his own brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, who was killed in the 1976 Entebbe rescue mission.
Netanyahu also addressed the war, saying: “We are in a multi-front war unlike any since the War of Independence. We have not yet completed the task, but the world already recognizes our determination to defend ourselves.”
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana said that each year on Memorial Day, “the people of Israel unite with the memory of the fallen,” adding that the state and the military have changed the reality in which Jewish blood was once “abandoned” in the diaspora.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion said the siren marking the start of Memorial Day would evoke recent air raid alarms, “but this time we will not run to shelters. We will stop, remember and honor our heroes.”
A one-minute siren set to sound at 8 p.m. to mark the start of Memorial Day, followed by the main state ceremony at the Western Wall in the presence of President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. Events will continue Tuesday with a two-minute siren at 11 a.m., followed by the official memorial ceremony at Mount Herzl.