Slain hostage Yonatan Samerano, whose body was recovered from the Gaza Strip earlier this week, was laid to rest in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
“All this time I stood firm in the belief that you were alive,” said his mother, Ayelet, in her eulogy. “I was right — you are alive. They returned your body but your soul isn’t here. It is, and always will be, with me forever.”
The bodies of Samerano, 22, and two other slain hostages, Ofra Keidar, and Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson, were recovered in a joint military and Shin Bet operation from the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Hundreds gathered to bid farewell to Samerano, a DJ, as well as several singers who performed in his honor, including Hanan Ben Ari.
Described by his family as “a magical child, beloved and surrounded by friends,” Samerano was at the Nova music festival when the Hamas onslaught began. He fled to Kibbutz Be’eri with two friends, where they were murdered, and his body was abducted.
Security cameras on the kibbutz captured footage of the terrorists, including an employee of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, loading him into a UNRWA jeep.
About two months later, the army informed the Samerano family that he had been killed, but they continued to hold out hope that he was alive.
During the funeral, Samerano’s father, Kobi, began to eulogize his son but became too emotional to continue and asked a rabbi to read the eulogy on his behalf.
“We were blessed to have you for 21 years and four months. Being by your side was a blessing. For more than a year and a half, we fought to get you back,” he said.
“To our new family,” he continued, “the families of the hostages — a family we didn’t choose — but our terrible shared fate has united us forever. I am with you until the last hostage is home.”
President Isaac Herzog also eulogized Samerano, and offered an apology to both him and his family.
“On behalf of the State of Israel, I ask for forgiveness,” he said. “Forgiveness that the State of Israel did not protect you; forgiveness that we failed to save you from the murderers; forgiveness that it took so long to bring you back from these monsters.”
“At this turbulent and historic moment, I remind us all: There is no true and total victory until the last of our hostages returns,” he said.
Herzog called on decision-makers to return the remaining hostages: “This is the time to take one more step….to send the right people to the right places, to talk to everyone we need to, to continue to act with determination, creativity and urgency, in every way and with all our strength until they return home.”
Yonatan’s brother Yair also spoke in tears: “You were a true superman. There was nothing you didn’t do and you were good at everything. You’ll be with me in everything I do.”
“It’s all of our jobs to go [Hostage Square] every Saturday and do everything possible to get [the hostages] back,” he continued.
“We are a nation of superheroes. Enough with this nonsense — bring everyone back. This situation cannot continue any longer — this reality must end.”
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive, and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.