In the hostage release ceremony on Saturday, a Hamas gunman was seen holding a Negev machine gun with a drum magazine inscribed with the name of fallen IDF soldier Tomer Nagar, killed in action in the October 7th massacre.
The soldier's family clarified that this was not Tomer's weapon, but just the drum. According to the family, the machine gun is in Israel.
Nagar completed his training as a Golani soldier and machine gunner shortly before the massacre. He joined the unit stationed at Kibbutz Kissufim, where he remained during the holiday. Only about 30 soldiers were left at the Kissufim post on Shabbat evening.
At six in the morning, Tomer started watch at a post which was forward and slightly removed from the main base. Half an hour later, Hamas launched an attack, cutting through fences, and soon, dozens of terrorists stormed Kissufim, one of the towns closest to Gaza. The soldiers were hurried into a shelter, and Tomer, hearing all the calls in the operations room, understood he was left to fight alone at the forward post, armed with the Negev machine gun.
Nagar engaged in a 40-minute battle with numerous terrorists and eliminated dozens using the Negev. The Jewish Press reports that Tomer remained calm and steady throughout the battle. His father stated “His composure and calmness are evident from the smartwatch we managed to recover, showing his heart rate and stress levels as stable and normal during the whole attack."
Tomer's lone stand gave his comrades time to organize and equip themselves before rushing to defensive positions, saving many from Kibbutz Kissufim. When the Egoz special forces unit came to clear the area, they found Tomer's body and, next to it, no less than 675 shells fired from the Negev machine gun.
Yosef Darshan and Avishai Parnes, residents of Kiryat Arba, decided to name the sight adapter they developed for the Negev machine gun the "Tomer Adapter", in honor of Tomer Nagar and his heroic story.