many of whom are soldiers—and frozen. In the wake of the Hamas assaults on October 7, some procedural regulations have been loosened, but families are nonetheless upset and impatient with the drawn-out legal proceedings they must go through.
When Avi Harush talks about the day he found that his 20-year-old son Reef had died in battle on April 6, 2024, in the Gaza Strip, his voice shakes.
And the military officers who had knocked on his door had given him the choice. Reef’s sperm may still be obtained; would the family be interested?
Avi responded right away. According to him, Reef “lived life to the fullest.”
We decide to live in spite of the terrible loss.
“There’s no doubt about it—Reef loved children and wanted his own kids,” he continues.
Reef didn’t have a partner or wife. However, once Avi started telling the story of his kid, a number of women approached him, asking to become Reef’s mother.
It is now his “life’s mission,” he claims.
Since the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken as prisoners back to Gaza, the family is among an increasing number of people who have frozen their sperm.
The health ministry run by Hamas reported that, in retaliation, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza that claimed the lives of almost 39,000 Palestinians.
