Four Hostages Bodies Return Home

In a quiet overnight exchange Wed – Thu, Hamas transferred the bodies of four hostages to Israel after holding them captive in Gaza for over 16 months. Among them was 85-year-old Shlomo Mantzur, the oldest hostage taken on October 7, 2023, whose death had been confirmed earlier this month. The Israeli government, in response, began releasing over 600 Palestinian prisoners, though officials delayed some releases until the hostages’ bodies were fully identified. Thousands of mourners lined the roads from central Israel to Kibbutz Kissufim to pay their final respects to Mantzur, who had lived there for decades before being abducted. Today, his funeral was held in the kibbutz, where friends, family, and officials honored his memory and mourned his tragic loss. 

Shlomo Mantzur was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1938 and survived the Farhud pogrom as a toddler before immigrating to Israel at 13 in 1951. 

History check: More than 180 Jews lost their lives in the Farhud pogrom, and 1,000 others were wounded during the violence, while some non-Jewish rioters were also killed as authorities attempted to restore order. Jewish homes were heavily targeted, with looters ransacking properties and destroying 900 residences.

Mantzur was among the early members who helped establish Kibbutz Kissufim in Israel, where he spent years working in the chicken coop and an eyewear factory while also developing a passion for carpentry. He leaves behind his wife, Mazal, five children, 12 grandchildren, and five siblings. Mazal, his wife of six decades, managed to survive the brutal terrorist attack on the kibbutz on October 7, 2023.

Mantzur (85) was the oldest hostage taken into Gaza and was held for over 500 days. He was led out by terrorists who had tied him and murdered him on the same day.  

The other bodies that were returned included Itzhak Elgarat (69), Tsachi Idan (49), and Ohad Yahalomi (49). 

Tsachi Idan was abducted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz and his oldest daughter, 18-year-old Maayan Idan, was shot and killed through the safe room door. The terrorists held Tsachi and his wife, Gali, and two other children outside as they filmed on Gali’s phone. Gali and her two other children survived. Tsachi was laid to rest alongside Maayan at Kibbutz Einat, while his funeral was held at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium, home of the Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer team, where he was a season ticket holder.

Itzhak Elgarat was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and murdered in Hamas captivity. Elgarat had called his younger brother, Danny, at around 11:30 am on October 7 telling him that his hand had been badly injured as he rushed to close the door to the safe room. Danny Elgarat tried to coach him on how to make a tourniquet for his hand but soon heard the sounds of gunfire and shouting. He worked on the kibbutz doing plumbing, gas, and stream work, and leaves behind two children, one brother, and two sisters. 

Ohad Yahalomi was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz after engaging in a battle with Hamas terrorists in his house on October 7, in which he was shot in the leg. Ohad had decided to sit outside the sealed room door with a handgun, as the door handle itself was not locking properly . After he was shot, the terrorists quickly grabbed Ohads wife, Batsheva, and their three children, along with a foreign worker from the kibbutz, and began driving them to Gaza on mopeds. After seeing two IDF tanks in the distance, the mopeds veered off but Batsheva, and her two daughters were able to escape in their pajamas and flip flops, running for three hours, toward the northern end of the Kibbutz, which sustained less damage than the other section.