Ilan Weiss, a missing Israeli civilian who was presumed to be held captive by Hamas, was killed in the October 7 terror attack on Israel, representatives for the Be’eri kibbutz confirmed Monday.
Weiss, 56, joined his kibbutz’s security team that morning in early October to help protect his community from Hamas terrorists. After Weiss left his home, his family never heard from him again.
“This morning we received the bitter news of the murder of kibbutz member Ilan Weiss,” kibbutz Be’eri said in a joint statement with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which the families of the abductees set up in the wake of the terror attack. “The kibbutz community bows its head and sympathizes with the family’s unbearable pain.”
Weiss’s death was determined by the Forensic Medicine Institute, but the statement did not say whether his body was recovered. Hamas militants took the bodies of some of their victims, along with the approximately 240 hostages, back to Gaza.
The kibbutz asked that Weiss be recognized as a fallen soldier, considering “he fulfilled his role when he went out to open the armory,” according to the statement. As deputy commander of the kibbutz’s emergency squad, Weiss opened the armory “to distribute weapons to the members of the standby squad” because another member who typically takes care of the task was unavailable at the time.
The grieving family’s community remembers Weiss as “a family man and a devoted father to his daughters” who loved his kibbutz and neighbors, the statement said.
His wife, Shiri, and 18-year-old daughter, Noga, were taken hostage on October 7. The pair was released on November 25 as part of the temporary cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas that resulted in the release of more than 100 hostages from Gaza. The Israeli military estimates that 129 Israelis remain captive.
Weiss’s two other daughters, Meytal and Maayan, lived in separate student apartments at the time of the attack and remained in their respective safe rooms for nearly 12 hours on October 7. Both were the last safe family members until their mother and younger sister were returned. In addition to Weiss, the family’s dog was killed that day.