Second Sergeant Ravit Hannah Assayag

Daughter of Ruth Deborah and Yehuda
Sister of Maor, Eden, Matan, Daniel, Adir, Sarah, Chessed and Emuna

Ravit was born and raised in Ashdod, as the fifth out of nine brothers and sisters in a warm and loving family.
Ravit defined herself not only as a daughter to her parents and a sister to her brothers and sisters, but also as a "die hard aunt" to her two beloved nephews, Adiel and Naor.
Ravit attended the "Dvir" elementary school in Ashdod and is a "Amit Y. Ashdod" high school graduate.
Ravit was characterized by her joy of life and diligence, she was blessed with many talents, and especially in theatrical skills. She played the organ and the guitar, got a lead role in a high school graduation play and used to perform at memorial services. You can watch one of her performances on Memorial Day on the commemorative Instagram page REMEMBER RAVIT.

Ravit also had makeup and hair styling skills at a high professional level.

Yoel was Ravit's loving life mate.

Ravit had many friends that she loved. She called them "my family".

Ravit's childhood dream was to be a fighter and defend the country. She fulfilled this dream by being recruited to Israel Police's Border Patrol unit on November 24, 2022.

Realizing her dream to serve in the Border Patrol was not easy for her. The three-and-a-half-month training involved physical and mental challenges. These included, among others, a difficulty in accepting authority, a difficulty she faced from a young age, being a free-spirited and independent person. Although her dedicated commanders didn't give up on her, they didn't cut her any slack. Thus, Ravit was the only rookie in the course who spent several weekends at the base. The one who helped her finish the track successfully was her admired commander, the late Kim Dukarker. Kim guided Ravit through the track test at the end of the training course and did it together with her to show Ravit that she is capable of succeeding. Indeed, Ravit's abilities and belief in herself were an empowering and motivating force for her. She completed her training process with great success and received a certificate of excellence at the end of the apprenticeship course. At the graduation ceremony, Ravit's sister thanked Commander Kim for supporting her sister and she asked her to continue to accompany Ravit in her further development in the Border Patrol. Kim, the beloved commander who had such an impact on Ravit's life, was murdered on the "Black Sabbath" on October 7, 2023, while she was partying with her friend at the Nova party in Re'im.

In the touching words of farewell and thanks delivered by Ravit at the graduation ceremony of the trainees, she spoke of the value of comradeship in arms and the importance of taking pride of your unit, and said:

"A glorious failure is better than dreams left in your drawer.
The dream of becoming a fighter was a goal to which the road to was not easy, full of physical and mental difficulties. So many concerns, failures, experiences, friendships were recorded in three and a half months. If it's getting up early in the morning when you're dying to sleep, if it's the hassles, falling down again and again, going down to the ranges - the nightmare of my life. In the end, it all comes down to one moment - the dream of becoming a fighter. It was a crazy experience that I will never forget. Thanks to the unique P1 department, thanks to you I got this apprenticeship. Thanks to the dear team who really gave all of themselves, just so I can make it (even though I hated you all during the apprenticeship...). Class 1 Hadar Company Team 3 Forever in my heart.
Proud to be a Border Patrol fighter."

Ravit's last position was in the "Rotem" division, in the Border Patrol's Internal Security Division. On the "Black Sabbath" on October 7, 2023, Ravit and her fellow fighters were called into action in Sderot, but the road to the city was blocked. Instead, they turned to Moshav Yakhini, into which they infiltrated before the battle started, Ravit had time to contact her family members, briefly explain to them the difficult security situation and send her goodbyes and love.

Upon arriving at the Yakhini Moshav, Ravit and the force ran into a terrorist squad that infiltrated it. Together with other forces that joined them, they managed to eliminate eight terrorists.

After the battle, the unit combed the Moshav to make sure it was cleared of terrorists. Ravit and another fighter from the unit were asked to search for a wooden warehouse near the rendezvous because suspicious noises were emanating from it. Bravely and with dedication, Ravit insisted on entering the warehouse first. In the building she encountered a terrorist, a shootout ensued, and she was shot. Ravit fell in this battle.

Ravit saved many lives in the Border Patrol operation in Yakhini.

Ravit believed that every person should fulfill their dreams and should not give up on them because dreams are the key for self-fulfillment. This world view of hers served as an inspiration for her loved ones.

She was brave by nature and did not shy away from the many dangers involved in working in the Border Patrol

Ravit loved to surf and play music on the beach. link

She loved singing, practicing make up art and bake amazingly delicious bundt cakes.

In a message issued on behalf of the Ashdod Amit Y School after Ravit's fall, it was written: "Dear Amit Family, we are sad to announce an unbearably difficult news. Our graduate, corporal Hannah Assayag, may God avenge her, was killed in the fighting in Sderot yesterday. The entire community of the school mourns the great loss."

On behalf of the "Dvir" school, a message was issued after her fall with the following wording: "Dear Dvir school family, we are sad to announce an unbearably difficult news. Our graduate, corporal Hannah Assayag, our teacher's Eden Gabay's sister, may God avenge her, was killed in the fighting in Sderot yesterday. The entire community of the school mourns the great loss." On the Ashdod Municipality website

Ravit was commemorated with moving songs written and performed by young artists. Dan Bitton, her good friend, wrote and composed a song in her memory in collaboration with Elia Vaknin (Link to the song). The lyrics are listed bellow:

"The most beautiful girl in heaven.
What can I tell about you?
You used to be the prettiest girl in kindergarten,
Today you are the most beautiful girl,
in heaven
And speaking of heaven,
Ravit, tell me, is everything really quiet there?
Because everything is a mess since you left,
just to calm you down,
Matan looks after your entire family.
Your friends from the police don't believe it
how God picked the most beautiful angel alive.
And wait, what about the Shabbat dinner table?
How would you scream all the songs there,
how you always ran away to the beach when you had crises,
and sometimes I wait to see you at night,
wearing a white dress,
And your soul from above watches over us,
Will you come to us?
You used to say: 'I protect the country'.
How could you not see any danger,
You told your commander: 'Move, I'm going in first'.
and entered".

Michael Gabai sang a song in her memory, the song was written and composed together with Ben Gedasi. Here are the lyrics (Link to the song):

"I was told that my heart is immune to pain
A day and another day passes
I can't let go
On the battlefield you fight
until the last breath
in my dreams
You come back to visit
and disappeared at sunrise
Chorus:
Your voice can still be heard
I remember it fondly, so beautiful
your tunes on the piano
How do we move forward?
when my heart hurts

Every knock on the door, I still hope
May you return home, may your heart be whole
I know it's hard for you to get used to it
To the new reality without family and friends
You saved us, the whole country
Everyone comes to you crying, shedding a tear
say the end is coming
Did the world stop?
I know forever you will stay close."

Ravit has a memorial page on Instagram.

At the beach in Ashdod, a march took place with many participants in memory of Ravit and Kim with the participation of family members, friends and police officers.

On the Ashdod Municipality website

This commemorative page was compiled using materials from the links indicated above as well as materials published in the information sources below:
Youtube
רשת13