The bodies of three slain hostages, Ofra Keidar, Jonathan Samerano, and Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson, were recovered in a joint military and Shin Bet operation from the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced Sunday morning.
The operation to recover the bodies was carried out by the Gaza Division, and was “enabled by precise intelligence” obtained by the military’s Hostages Headquarters unit, the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet, the IDF said.
The three bodies were brought to Israel for identification at the Abu Kabir forensic institute, after which their families were notified.
Keidar, 71, was murdered by Hamas-led terrorists while on an early morning walk near her home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the October 7, 2023, onslaught. Her body was then abducted to Gaza.
The slain kibbutznik was remembered by friends and family as a lover of exercise who always took her daily morning walk, loved gardening, swimming and animals — and worked for decades in the kibbutz’s dairy farm, milking cows.
Shmil Talker, who worked with Ofra at Be’eri’s animal section, said she had “retired long ago, but never missed a day of work, arriving early every morning.”
“Ofra was physically so strong that it was really hard to keep up with her. Despite the attempts to slow down her pace, it was clear that nothing would help and we would all need to match her pace instead,” he said.
Keidar’s husband, Sami Keidar, was killed by Hamas terrorists on the sofa in his home, according to relatives. Suffering from Parkinson’s, he was unable to reach the family’s safe room in time. His caregiver was also wounded by Hamas gunfire.
The couple’s 41-year-old daughter, Yael Keidar, was in her parents’ house at the time, but survived the onslaught by hiding in their safe room, emerging only after it had become quiet outside.
Ofra and Sami Keidar were survived by Yael and sons Elad and Oren, as well as seven grandchildren and several siblings.
“There is comfort, we will finally have a proper grave to visit — this is good news,” Elad Keidar told Army Radio following the retrieval of his mother’s body.
Samerano, 22, who lived in Tel Aviv, was attending the Nova music festival when the Hamas onslaught began.
That morning, he fled the rave to Be’eri with two friends, where they were murdered and his body abducted. Over 360 people were killed at the rave.
Footage from kibbutz security cameras captured Hamas terrorists loading him into a jeep and driving toward Gaza. His death was confirmed in December 2023.
The slain hostage’s father, Kobi Samerano, said that his son’s body was recovered on what would have been his son’s 23rd Hebrew birthday.
“Yesterday was Yonati’s Hebrew birthday. On his 23rd birthday, on the very day he was born, our Yonati was rescued in a heroic operation by the brave soldiers of the IDF and the Shin Bet,� Kobi Samerano wrote on Instagram, using a diminutive of his full name.
“Yonati, we were blessed to live by your side for 21 and a half years of light,” he continued. “You have returned to us, beloved son, wrapped in the light of heroism, of faith, of a nation united.”
One of Samerano’s captors was an employee of UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees. He was one of 12 people employed by the agency who “actively participated” in the Hamas-led onslaught, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant revealed to the public in February 2024.
Samerano’s mother, Ayelet, became active for a time in the movement to bring back the hostages, living and dead, from Gaza.
At a summit organized by the pro-Israel monitoring group UN Watch, Samerano demanded to meet with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Geneva, where the conference was held.
“Mr. Guterres, look at my eyes and answer me now — where is my son?â€� the grieving mother said at the International Summit for a Future Beyond UNRWA.
“How can the UN pay this man who dragged my son’s limp body along the ground and then picked him up as if he were a prize into Gaza. How many more lives have been ruined by this person, hauling my son like he isn’t even a human being into an UNRWA car?� she lamented.
UNRWA fired all 12 employees implicated in the massacre when the allegations surfaced.
Samerano is survived by his parents and his brother Yair.
Levinson, 19, was a tank commander stationed on the Gaza border on the morning of the onslaught. He was killed while battling the invading Hamas terrorists near the Nova rave, and his body was abducted to the Strip.
A resident of Givat Avni, a small northern community near Tiberias, Levinson was described as an excellent student, kindhearted and sociable. He played volleyball in Israel’s top league for Eilabun, a nearby Arab town.
Levinson’s friend Ofir Hauptmann recalled the slain soldier as the “social glue” of their friend group.
“I lost a close friend, an optimist, who I always consulted with on everything because he enlisted a round before me in the Armored Corps,” he said in January 2024, as quoted by Ynet. “Everyone wanted to be around him. It’s really hard for me to talk about him in the past tense. I’m speaking, and it just doesn’t feel real.”
Israel Volleyball Association chairperson Rina Dor said Levinson was “a volleyball player with a bright future ahead of him.”
“There’s a feeling of pain — he returned in a way we never wanted him to — but at least he’s here, at least he’s receiving a proper burial,” said Levinson’s childhood friend Maayan. “He’ll be buried near his home. I know how much he loved the area where we live — it’s the small honor he deserves.â€�
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomed the return of the bodies of three slain captives in a statement in which it also urged the government to use the Iran war’s momentum to secure a deal to free the remaining hostages.
“We wish to express our deep gratitude to the IDF and security forces who acted with dedication and courage,” the forum said in a statement. “The return of all the hostages is an essential condition for the process of national healing and recovery.”
It urged the government to take advantage of the severe blows dealt to Iran, the main backer of the Hamas terror group, to reach a hostage deal.
“We want to emphasize that bringing back the remaining 50 hostages is the key to achieving any sort of victory,â€� the forum said. “There is a historic window of opportunity — the significant regional achievements enable Israel to end the war from a position of clear strength.
“The return of all hostages through a comprehensive deal — this is in Israel’s interest, this is the next stage, and this is the victory of this war. There will be no victory until the last hostage returns,” the forum’s statement continued.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still 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 2014 in Gaza.
The October 7, 2023, attack saw some 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel from Gaza by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages of all ages — mostly civilians — under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.