‘Kind, sweet, fun-loving' Utah man ‘massacred’ by Hamas terrorists identified as Lotan Abir

During the attack, Lotan Abir was attending the music festival with a few friends from Utah’s Jewish community

One of the Americans who was killed by Hamas terrorists at a music festival in Israel has been identified as 24-year-old Lotan Abir, who has been described as a “fun-loving” man from Utah. During the attack, Lotan was attending the festival with a few friends from Utah’s Jewish community.

Lotan Abir has been described as a “fun-loving” man from Utah (Avremi Zippel/Facebook)

Two of Lotan’s friends managed to escape, but he initially went missing, Rabbi Avremi Zippel, with Chabad Lubavitch of Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune. Officials later confirmed that he died in the attack.

“He was the sort of person that you would want to call your friend,” Zippel said. “He ultimately gave up his life for the sake of our people at a rave while celebrating some of his greatest passions in life. … Just a kind, sweet, fun-loving, innocent soul who was massacred by a terrorist.”

Towards the end of 2022, Lotan wrapped up military service in Israel and moved to Utah. However, he recently returned to Israel to attend some events. Lotan’s friend, Elad Ogorek, who lives in Utah, said that two of his friends who were at the festival told him they had not heard from Lotan ever since they fled. “We knew it was going to be bad news; we didn’t know what type of bad news it was gonna be,” Elad said. “We actually said ourselves, and asked each other, ‘What’s better — to get kidnapped to Gaza or just die?’”