The remains of hostage Ron Benjamin were retrieved from the Gaza Strip in a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation, the army announced Saturday evening.
The IDF said that according to intelligence, Benjamin was murdered during the October 7 massacre at the Mefalsim Intersection, and his body was abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists. He had come there to participate in a cycling trip with his group.
According to the statement, his body was recovered along with the bodies of Yitzhak Gelernter, Shani Louk, and Amit Buskila during a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation, based on precise intelligence obtained during the interrogations of terrorists who were apprehended in the Gaza Strip, as well as intelligence from IDF Intelligence Directorate's Headquarters for the Hostages and Missing Persons.
Following an identification procedure carried out by medical officials at the Israeli National Forensic Institute and the Israel Police, IDF representatives notified the family on Saturday.
"The IDF and Shin Bet continue, even at this time, to deploy all operational and intelligence means and to take operational risks to accomplish the supreme national task of bringing back all the hostages," the statement read. The IDF spokesperson's announcement follows the return of the bodies of Yitzhak Gelenter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila from the Gaza Strip. Hamas still holds 128 captives.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated: "We are saddened to receive the difficult news of the murder of Ron Benjamin by Hamas terrorists. His return to Israel this Saturday is a sacred mission, allowing his family to give him eternal rest in the land of Israel. 128 captives have been waiting to be rescued and to be returned to Israel for 225 long days and nights. It is the responsibility of the Israeli government to focus on the only important task: to fight for their return home."
The family of Ron Benjamin, 53, was updated almost two months after Hamas' attack that he was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. Benjamin, a resident of the central city of Rehovot, arrived at Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza Strip border on October 7 for a cycling trip and decided to return home when sirens began wailing.
His car, which was riddled with bullet holes, was found abandoned a few days later near the Mefalsim Intersection. Benjamin is survived by his wife Ayelet and his children Shai, 25, and Gil, 21.
According to his family, in the first few weeks, they were told by the army "to prepare for the possibility that we will never know what happened to Ron." According to the information available to the family, his car was turned off at around 7:30, about 400 meters before the Mefalsim Intersection.
The last sign of life from him was a voice message he sent to his daughter in which explosions can be heard in the background.
"I don't know where to go, it's over my head, you'll hear the explosions here. It's coming from Gaza, missiles over our heads," he is heard saying in the recording. "I'm in Be'eri, which is across from Gaza. Okay, I'm going out on the road. I don't know, I hope everything will be fine, bye."