The IDF retrieved 3 deceased hostages in overnight raid on Sunday night. The three, who had been declared dead several months ago, are Shay Levinson, 19, Yonatan Samerano, 22, and Ofra Keidar, 70.
The operation was carried out by Gaza Division forces and additional units, based on intelligence and special capabilities of the Shin Bet.
Levinson was a tank commander in the 77th Battalion in the 7th Armored Brigade from Givat Avni in northern who fought against terrorists, fell in battle, and was abducted by Hamas – his death was determined in January 2024. Samerano was abducted and murdered at Be'eri kibbutz after fleeing from Nova festival with his friends, when terrorists shot at them from point-blank range – his death was determined in December 2023. Ofra Keidar, a Be'eri kibbutz member and mother of three children, was murdered and abducted from Be'eri – her death was determined in December 2023.
After identifying the bodies, notification was given to the kibbutz and families. The received intelligence was translated into field operations, parallel to the operation in Iran. The IDF continues to invest maximum efforts in returning the hostages. With the recovery of the three bodies, Inbar Hayman remains as the last woman hostage still held in Hamas captivity. She was also at the Nova party.
The Chief Military Rabbi determined Levinson's death in January 2024 based on reliable information and after examining all findings.
Three days ago, on June 19, was Levinson's 21st birthday. For the occasion, his grandmother Dinah Levinson wrote a column for Israel Hayom, stating "I am Shay's grandmother, and it's been 622 days since I saw him – and I will never see him again. Shay was a young man 6 feet 3 inches tall, a graduate of the Kadoorie Agricultural High School and a volleyball player for six years at the Eilabun sports club.
A Jew among Arabs. He was an outstanding player, but requested and demanded to enlist in combat." In the three months before the war, he was stationed along the Gaza border, in the area between Be'eri kibbutz and Re'im kibbutz. Their tank, "the Nova tank," was among the first to enter action that Saturday morning.
According to his commanders' accounts, they all fought like lions. They fought for about half an hour, then his voice went silent. An RPG was fired at the tank, the gunner and loader were killed, and Shay as commander was thrown from the blast. The driver survived and reached the Nova area. The tank saved about 60 people.
After his death, his parents found a notebook in his room where he wrote "We are not an army of robots, we are the Israel Defense Forces. I need strength, persistence, determination and charisma."
Yonatan Samerano, 23, from Tel Aviv, whom family members called "Yonati," was abducted after going out to party at Re'im (Nova) on October 7. Yonatan fled from the party and arrived by car with two vehicles to the gate of Be'eri kibbutz, where terrorists shot at his car. In a photo published by the family, the wounded Samerano appears to have been abducted from there by a terrorist-affiliated UN Gaza aid organization UNRWA employee, and since then his family has waged a battle against the organization.
Video: Footage showing Samerano's abduction / Credit: Hostages and Missing Families Forum
The Samerano family received notification of Yonatan's death in December 2023, 58 days after he was abducted. However, during the entire period, they cast doubt on the committee that determined his death and claimed it was impossible to know with certainty what happened to him – despite sitting shiva for him.
Samerano was supposed to celebrate his 23rd birthday recently. He left behind parents Ayelet and Kobi and a younger brother named Yair. He was a passionate fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv, a young man who loved to party and loved to produce parties. Yonatan even designed a collection of party items – including shirts that were launched recently after his death.
"His vision was to create a production unlike any other, in the style of Burning Man, and he also went to Nova to bring ideas," his family said.
After his body was recovered, his father Kobi wrote on Instagram "Yesterday was Yonati's Hebrew birthday. On his 23rd birthday, on the day he was born, our Yonati was rescued in a heroic operation by the heroic IDF and Shin Bet soldiers. On his birthday, Yonati knocked, a jokester like him, on his home door. Just before, a missile fragment fell near the door."
"Then came the notification, the notification we didn't want to receive for long months. From the first moment I believed, with all my heart, that our army would return my son. I never stopped believing, and so it happened."
Ofra Keidar, 70, a Be'eri kibbutz resident, was one of two women who remained in captivity alongside Inbar Hayman. The notification of her death came on December 1, 2023. Her husband Sami, a Parkinson's patient, was murdered while confined to the sofa in their home. Yael, Ofra and Sami's daughter, has special needs and locked herself alone in the house's safe room, thus saving herself.
According to her family members, Ofra never missed a day of walking. Thus, for the last walk of her life, she went out on the black Saturday of October 7 at 5 a.m. As she was returning to the kibbutz, rocket alerts alerts began and she encountered terrorists. After two months, her family members discovered she was murdered and abducted to Gaza.
Elad Keidar, Ofra's son, said previously "My hell began at 5 a.m. when my mother went out for a morning run and didn't return. My sister has special needs, she's 41. She remained alone in the house, and Hamas burned the house while she was inside. I lost contact with her. Two days later I received a call from the hospital that she would be okay. I was 19 hours in a safe room with my children and miraculously we managed to survive."
Keidar was an athlete who excelled particularly in ball games and as a young woman volunteered to be a parachute folder. After the army, she went out for a third year of service at Alrom youth kibbutz, where she met Sami. Ofra worked in the dairy for about 30 years continuously and was responsible for the nursery – caring for newborn calves. The kibbutz website said Keidar loved to hear old foreign songs and particularly loved Elvis Presley and Paul Anka.
