A tragic end came for 30-year-old Bar Ashraf, a survivor of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, after he was found dead on Saturday night beside the grave of his girlfriend, Liron Barda, who was killed during the attack. According to the Israeli news site Walla, his body was discovered by his sister at a cemetery in the West Bank, after the family had been searching for him following his disappearance from a wedding ceremony he had attended earlier that day.
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His sister recounted that the family decided to check Liron’s grave, as Ashraf visited it frequently to honor her memory and feel close to her. She described how, upon finding him, she immediately realized he was seriously injured and emergency services were called without delay. Despite the efforts of Magen David Adom paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Describing the moment she found him, his sister said: “My sister had a feeling and told me: ‘You go.’ I walked over and suddenly saw him lying next to Liron’s grave. I said to him: ‘Bar, get up, what are you doing again…’ Then I realized he was covered in blood. I stepped on a weapon that was lying beside him. I screamed. I couldn’t function. I knew it was the end. His body was cold. The Magen David Adom paramedics did everything they could. He died in the place he most wanted to be — next to the woman he most wanted to be with.”
People close to the couple say that after Liron’s death, Ashraf maintained a close relationship with her family and visited her parents frequently, keeping her memory alive.
The 26-year-old had been working as a bartender at the festival, and when the Hamas attack began, she reportedly refused to leave, choosing to stay behind and help the wounded, according to the Times of Israel. “I spoke with her that morning. I asked her to leave the area, but she refused. She told me there were wounded people and that she would stay,” her father had told the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. “That was Liron. I would have been surprised if she had agreed to leave people behind and save herself,” he added.
