Five hostages snatched from Israel have been ‘murdered by Hamas’ including dad whose wife and daughters were set free
THE KIBBUTZIM of an OAP farmer, kindergarten teacher, volunteer worker and two parents have revealed that all five have been "murdered" after being taken hostage by Hamas.
Kibbutzim Nir Oz and Be'eri claimed that farmer Aryeh Zalmanovich, 85, kindergarten teacher Maya Goren, 56, volunteer worker Ronen Engel, 54, mum Ofra Keidar, 70, and dad Eliyahu Margalit, 75, all died in the hands of Hamas terrorists.
Ofra Keidar, 70, was taken hostage in Gaza and died while in captivity.
Kibbutz Be'Eri did not detail when or how she passed away.
“Her body is in the hands of Hamas. We demand her return along with the other hostages,” a statement from the kibbutz read.
Ofra went for a walk early in the morning of October 7 and hadn’t been heard from until now.
More on Israel-Hamas war
Her husband, Sami Keidar, was killed in the family’s safe room.
The couple is survived by their daughter Yael Keidar, who has a mild intellectual disability and hid in the safe room until hours later when it was quiet outside.
Yael’s brother, Oran Keidar, and his family also live in Be’eri and survived.
Maya had been setting up the Kibbutz kindergarten space early on October 7, when the community came under attack.
Most read in The Sun
Homes were burned, roughly 180 of the 400 residents were killed, and many civilians were abducted.
The Kibbutz's security team battled with Hamas for nearly 11 hours, after which the IDF troops arrived and evacuated all remaining civilians.
Maya's husband Avner was killed immediately, but Maya had been considered a hostage until this point.
It is currently unclear from the Kibbutz's announcement whether Maya died on October 7 or was killed in captivity.
IDF troops have been unsuccessful at retrieving her body which, at the time of writing, remains with Hamas in Gaza.
Ronen Engel was also thought to have been a hostage until this point.
He had been captured by Hamas alongside his wife Karina Engel-Bart, 51, and his daughters Mika, 18, and Yuval, 11.
His wife and daughters were released from captivity on Monday, and his Kibbutz has since revealed that Ronen was murdered.
They have not yet revealed when he was killed, but have said that they believe his body to still be in Gaza.
The Kibbutz commented: "May his memory be a blessing".
Last month, Hamas had claimed that Aryeh, the eldest of all 247 hostages, died of a heart attack after the area he was being held in was bombed by the IDF.
But his Kibbutz has just revealed that his tragic death was actually a murder.
Aryeh's son, Boaz, has also come forward to say that his father died due to the physical and mental torture he endured in captivity.
Boaz said: "My father is not a man of words. He is a man of trained hands and work clothes, and he sees the Kibbutz as his life's mission."
In his final message to his dad, Boaz wrote: "The heart is torn to pieces, we will miss you."
This comes after Hamas released footage of Aryeh lying on a hospital bed, wired to a monitoring machine and looking sickly.
Aryeh manages to mutter: "I'm feeling not good."
Another clip broadcast immediately after shows his lifeless corpse, only partially covered by a white sheet.
The IDF confirmed their deaths, along with that of fellow Nir Oz resident Eliyahu Margalit, 75, whose daughter Nili Margalit, 41, was released from Hamas captivity.
Aryeh, Maya, Ronen, Ofra and Eliyahu were among the estimated 247 people that were abducted from Israel during the terror attacks on October 7.
Hamas and other militants seized around 247 hostages in their deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed.
Many more of those abducted have since been killed, or are presumed dead.
Israel said on Friday that 136 hostages remain in Gaza.
They include 119 men and 17 women and children, according to military spokesperson Daniel Hagari.
Roughly 10 of the hostages are 75 and older, the Prime Minister’s Office said Friday.
The vast majority are Israeli while 11 are foreign nationals, including eight from Thailand, one from Nepal and Tanzania each, and one French-Mexican.
During the ceasefire, some 110 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were returned to their families, Israel’s government said Friday.
They include 86 Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals, most of them Thais.
It comes after Israeli troops discovered the body of Corporal Noa Marciano, 19, near al-Shifa hospital more than a month after she was kidnapped.
Heartbreaking pictures show her mum Adi sobbing over her beloved daughter's coffin as she was laid to rest in Modiin, Israel.
A huge crowd filled the streets as Noa's coffin, with the Israel flag draped over it, was carried by soldiers.
Among the captives presumed dead is also Baby Kfir, 10 months, and his brother Ariel, 4.
Hours before Hamas released its sixth group of hostages under the ceasefire deal with Israel, they claimed that Kfir and Ariel were all killed in Israeli shelling.
The Bibas family have now released a statement saying: "Our family has learned of Hamas' latest claims.
"We are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by military officials."
This morning the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, twice extended, has come to an end.
The pause in fighting had allowed for daily exchanges of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners taken by Israel.
Israel has rejected calls for a permanent ceasefire, agreeing only to a temporary truce as long as Hamas released 10 hostages a day.
Qatar has said that negotiations are still ongoing to find a compromise, but that Israel's bombardment of Gaza has complicated their efforts.
Just hours after the truce expired, Gaza health officials have reported that 54 people have already been killed.
Dozens more have been wounded in air strikes that have hit at least eight homes.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas in response to their terror attacks in October.
The IDF's bombardment and ground invasion has reduced much of the region to rubble.
According to UN authorities more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed dead, and tens of thousands more are presumed to still be lying under the debris.
Read More on The Sun
The UN has also claimed that as many as 80% of Gaza's population is now internally displaced.
Most of their 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes, with many seeking refuge under makeshift, tent-like shelters.
