Oded Abargel

Oded’s assisted with building a stage for the Nova festival, and had planned for a friend, Noa Yifrach, to meet up with him. Noa called Oded as the terrorist attack began; she told Channel 12 news “He answered me straight away and calmed me down.” “He’s from the south and I’m from the north, and I reacted to the incident differently from him.” “He was very practical. He told me, ‘Noa, the party is shutting down. Go calmly to pack up your things,'' she said.

As the attacks unfolded, Oded maintained contact with Noa via text as he hid under the stage. At a point, however, Oded no longer responded to Noa's texts and she began calling his phone. “I made dozens of calls to Oded that remained unanswered,” Yifrach said. “At the same time, a van was already picking us up, along with dozens of other survivors, towards Patish, to the community center where I collapsed. I saw all the wounded arrive there, full of blood, and I understand the magnitude of the event — and Oded still wasn’t answering.”

Another festival attendee, May Hayat, hid under the stage and found herself next to Oded, now deceased, his phone next to him ringing from Noa. She smeared some of his blood on herself to feign death, and spent the next two hours hiding. Afterwards, May's testimony was seen by Noa and Oded's family some two weeks later, sadly ending their hopes he might be alive.

“Even at the time [of the massacre] we know that he guided his friends to save them from hell. Even in his death, he helped a girl he didn’t know. Oded died a hero,” wrote his sister Naama Cohen.

Oded Abergel’s funeral was held in Masu’ot Yitzhak on October 15.