IDF Recovers Bodies of Three Hostages Murdered by Hamas on October 7
The IDF identifies them as Ofra Keidar, 71, Yonatan Samerano, 21, and Shay Levinson, 19.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has recovered the bodies of three hostages, who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023.
Following a forensic investigation, the IDF identified them as 71-year-old Ofra Keidar, 21-year-old Yonatan Samerano and 19-year-old Shay Levinson.
“In a special operation carried out by the ISA and the IDF, the bodies of the hostages Ofra Keidar, Yonatan Samerano, and Staff Sergeant Shay Levinson were recovered from the Gaza Strip yesterday,” the IDF announced Sunday.
Bodies of 3 Deceased Hostages Recovered
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 22, 2025
The bodies of SSGT Shay Levinson, Yonatan Samerano and Ofra Keidar, who were held hostage for 625 days in Gaza, have been recovered in a joint IDF and ISA military operation.
May their memories be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/8FUo9XJwXo
Ofra Keidar, mother of three and grandmother of seven, was taken hostage and murdered by terrorists while on a morning walk near Kibbutz Be’er in southern Israel. Her husbands was killed in their family home.
Statement from the family of Ofra Keidar, one of the murdered hostages whose body was recovered overnight:
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) June 22, 2025
"We are in pain, yet there is a sense of relief that we can lay Ofra to rest in the soil of Be'eri, the land she loved so much. Bringing back all the hostages is a moral… pic.twitter.com/KZvyBd87NL
Yonatan Samrano was abducted from the Nova music festival along with his two friends. All three were murdered on October 7, 2023, and Hamas held their bodies in Gaza for ‘ransom’.
Yonatan Samerano was murdered by Hamas on October 7th. His body was taken into Gaza by a UNRWA employee who was also a member of Hamas.
— Ambassador Avi Nir-Feldklein (@avraham_nir) June 22, 2025
Today, the IDF recovered his body and returned Yonatan to Israel. https://t.co/MeC8zQXgu7 pic.twitter.com/CyAnmRV0LK
Shay Levinson, a young IDF Sargent and a tank commander, was ambushed and murdered by Hamas terrorists. Shay “fought terrorists on the morning of October 7 and fell in combat,” the IDF noted.
Shai Levinson, a German-Israeli, was 19 when Hamas killed him on 7/10. Now the IDF returned his body from Gaza. I just spoke to his father; our hearts are with his family and all others waiting for their loved one’s return. There must be a deal to get them out and end this war. pic.twitter.com/rCSh14MW5o
— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) June 22, 2025
The Jerusalem Post reported the details surrounding their abduction and murder by terrorists:
Ofra Keidar was murdered alongside her husband, Sami, on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, and her body was taken to Gaza. She was 71 years old and a mother of three. Her death was confirmed in December 2023.
Keidar, along with Inbar Haiman, was the only female hostage left in Hamas captivity. Haiman was killed in captivity, her family confirmed in December 2023.
Yonatan Samerano, 21 years old, attended the Nova Music Festival at Re’im, and when the attacks began, he fled to Be’eri, where he was killed and kidnapped to Gaza by terrorists.
Shay Levinson was a tank commander in the 77th “Oz” Battalion in the 7th Armored Brigade. He was killed on October 7, but his death was only determined in January 2024.
According to reports, Levinson was in a tank that was caught by surprise when Hamas terrorists crossed the border in the early morning of October 7. His tank managed to kill around 15 terrorists with shells before being overwhelmed.
Yael and Elad Keidar stand in front of the ruins of their mother Ofra’s home.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) June 22, 2025
Ofra was murdered by Hamas on October 7 and her body was recovered and returned to Israel last night.
📷 Kibbutz Be'eri pic.twitter.com/IFhPlMeXkU
The remains were uncovered in a coastal area of Gaza in a covert operation conducted by special forces of the IDF and Shin Bet security agency (ISA), backed by military and domestic intelligence services. “The rescue operation was conducted by the ISA and IDF troops of the Southern Command and the Gaza Division,” the IDF disclosed. “The operation was made possible by precise intelligence received from the ISA, the Hostage Task Force, and the IDF Intelligence Directorate.”
The bodies are recovered as the operation Gideon’s Chariots, the IDF’s final push to defeat Hamas in Gaza and free the hostages, enters its eighth week. After more than 20 months since the October 7 massacre, Hamas still holds 50 hostages, including two Americans. Less than 25 captives are believed to be alive.
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Comments
300,000 Hamas supporters should pay d be identified to pay for this.
Gazans are such scum.
71, 21 and 19!
And the left celebrates these deaths as necessary 🤬🤬
There can be no rest until the job is done.
God bless their families and may they rest in heaven
Keep in mind when contemplating today’s attack on the Iranian nuclear facilities that Hamas and Iran are one and the same.
The mullahs of Iran worship death. They crave the destruction of Israel and Jews. They crave the destruction of the United States.
Most people today are not old enough to remember the humiliation of the Iranian hostage crisis and the absolute fecklessness of Jimmy (spit) Carter. It was this never ending debacle that brought us the 24 hour news cycle but more importantly it brought us Ronald Reagan. The hostages were released as soon as he was inaugurated.
The only thing that islamists respect is violence. Israel has brought that to Gaza, we have brought it to their nuclear program.
Don’t be surprised if Trump acts upon intel telling him where the mullahs are hiding. After all, the King of Iran in exile has suddenly started showing up in social media.
I remember. And I cannot understand young American, college educated women supporting Hamas or sympathizing with Iran. There is no excuse.
” His body was taken into Gaza by a UNRWA employee who was also a member of Hamas.”
Why hasn’t UNRWA yet been declared a terrorist organization?
Whenever they ask for a hostage exchange it should be ‘like for like’
You give a living hostage? You get a living hostage.
You give a DEAD hostage? Well…
good on the idf/sf people–risking their own lives to bring their countrymen home–may the victims rest in peace–condolences to their families/loved ones
and young sergeant–you fought bravely, taking 15 of the bastards with you–rest in peace, warrior
Most people today are not old enough to remember the humiliation of the Iranian hostage crisis and the absolute fecklessness of Jimmy (spit) Carter.
______________________________________
i am–you left out a couple of things
not to praise jimmah but he DID authorize a covert mission to rescue our people–though if failed due to logistical problems that does not diminish the courage or determination of our forces that made the attempt
and canadian ambassador ken taylor, at the risk of his own life and the lives of his staff DID rescue several of our countrymen–extraordinary courage and support from our neighbors in the moment–bravo
Jimmy left the soldiers on that mission out to dry.
Carter only authorized the mission because he desperately wanted to be reelected and that wasn’t going to happen unless he stopped his endless yammering and actually DID something to get the hostages back. That’s not to say the attempt wasn’t the right thing to do (it 100% was) and our forces weren’t absolute studs for doing it (they 100% were). But Peter Moss is 100% correct in pointing out that it was Carter’s spinelessness and ineptitude that created the whole situation in the first place and if Reagan hadn’t been breathing down his neck he would have just carried on sniveling at the Iranian revolutionaries to ‘let our people go.’