Three people abducted by Hamas gunmen from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel on Oct. 7 are dead, the kibbutz announced Friday.
Aryeh Zalmanovich, 85, Maya Goren, 56, and Ronan Engel, 54, were named on the community’s Facebook page as those who have died. No information was provided as to the manner or timing of their deaths.
Zalmanovich, one of the kibbutz’s founders, was the oldest abductee being held by Hamas, according to Ynet. In mid-November, Hamas published a video appearing to show Zalmanovich seemingly unwell and the group later said he had died.
His community confirmed the news Friday. “A father of two and a grandfather to five, Aryeh was a man of the earth his whole life, who worked in agriculture and crops,” the kibbutz wrote in tribute. “A man of reading with vast knowledge in history and the land. May his memory be a blessing.”
Around an hour later, the kibbutz said kindergarten teacher Maya Goren was also dead. One of her four children previously said the last time he spoke to his mother was during a phone call on the morning of the Oct. 7 attacks in which she told him she was hiding from gunmen under a bed. Goren’s husband, 56-year-old Avner, was killed during the massacre, though their children survived. Nir Oz said Goren was a “diligent and dedicated kindergarten teacher and nanny” who “lovingly cared for the kibbutz children for many years.”
The kibbutz announced the death of Ronen Engel soon after. News of the father-of-three’s passing comes just days after the release of his wife, Karina Engel-Bart, 51, and daughters Mike, 18, and Yuval, 11, from Hamas captivity. Nir Oz said Engel was a photographer and a motorcycle enthusiast, as well as a volunteer with Magen David Adom—Israel’s nonprofit emergency medical service. “May his memory be a blessing,” the kibbutz wrote in tribute.
Some 38 people died and another 75 were kidnapped from Nir Oz during the Oct. 7 rampage, according to The Times of Israel, with the surviving residents living in temporary accommodation until the war in Gaza ends.
A weeklong ceasefire between Hamas and Israel ended on Friday morning with both sides blaming the other for the resumption of hostilities. During the brief pause in fighting, more than 100 captives were released from Gaza in exchange for Israel releasing 240 Palestinian prisoners. Israel estimates that 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, while health officials in Hamas-controlled Gaza say that more than 13,000 people have been killed during Israel’s consequent military campaign in the enclave.
