Itzhak Elgarat was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz while wounded in his hand. At 11:27 a.m. he called his brother Danny Elgarat, who in his past was commander of the Ashdod police station. In that conversation, the brother said: "He sounded stressed and hysterical and told me that he was seriously injured in the hand from the safe room door, he didn't even understand that he was hit by terrorist gunfire. I instructed him how to make a tourniquet, and during the conversation, I heard a noise, loud shouting in Arabic, unclear things."
Afterwards, Danny said: "He then shouted with superhuman strength: 'Danny, this is the end, Danny this is the end,' and our conversation was cut off." Triangulation done to Elgarat's phone showed that at 12:00 p.m. the phone crossed the fence border, and at 4 p.m. it was already in central Gaza.
In December 2023, returned hostages told Danny they saw his brother and that he has a scar on his hand. This information lifted Danny's spirits, who is one of the prominent voices in the struggle to return the hostages. But that didn't last long. In July 2024, Danny claimed he received a notice that his brother Itzhak was no longer among the living, but such notice was not received officially from the army.
Danny passed harsh criticism on the government for not doing enough to return the hostages. After reports that the hostages in captivity in Gaza are being starved, he appeared in the Knesset and pointed an accusatory finger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "We are considering criminal action. Going to the police station and filing a complaint against the prime minister for negligent homicide of 33 hostages."
Itzhak is a well-known figure in Kibbutz Nir Oz as the kibbutz maintenance man, an avid soccer fan, and a Maccabi Tel Aviv fan who plays soccer himself. He holds Danish citizenship, where he lived after his marriage, and has two children living in Denmark. At one point it was claimed that the two are afraid to reveal their identity fearing Muslims will harm them. He's not the only family member who was abducted – like him also his brother-in-law Alex Dancyg (76). In July 2024 the IDF declared Dancyg was murdered, and a month later his body was recovered and returned to Israel.
