The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported Friday that the bodies of hostages Orion Hernandez, Michel Nisenbaum and Hanan Yablonka were retrieved and returned to Israel after a joint operation by the military and Shin Bet from a tunnel within northern Gaza’s Jabaliya. The current number of hostages still being held by Hamas stands at 125.
“Initial investigations suggest the hostages were murdered during the October 7 terror attack and were abducted by Hamas hostages close to Mefalsim,” the IDF said in a statement. According to the report, the rescue operation took place “based on precise intelligence.”
Orion Hernandez, 30, a Mexican-French national and the partner of Shani Louk, attended the Nova Music Festival before being abducted, as did 42-year-old Hanan Yablonka, a father of two from Tel Aviv. Michel Nisenbaum, 59, from Sderot traveled to southern Israel to rescue his 4-year-old granddaughter, who was spending the weekend at the Re'im base with her father, a career soldier. The three encountered a roadblock set up by terrorists at the curve between Kibbutz Mefalsim and the Black Arrow Memorial, where they were taken hostage.
Their bodies were found in the same area where the bodies of Ron Benjamin, Yitzhak Galanter, Shani Louk, and Amit Buskila were also discovered, though not in the same tunnel.
Orion, Hanan and Michel
Orion was a music producer who reviewed and worked at music festivals around the world. His mother told of an adventurous young man who loved nature and hiking, a sociable and generous person who traveled the world and collected friends. He was a devoted father to his two-year-old daughter, Ayana. During one of his trips to Europe, he met Shani Louk and she became his partner.
Shani and Orion worked together with other friends from Argentina on organizing a music festival in Greece that ended in September, and then decided to take a joint vacation. They arrived in Israel on October 1.
Hanan’s decision to go to the party in Kibbutz Re'im was spontaneous. In the early hours of October 7, he decided to head there instead of going to another party in northern Israel. Hanan, who lived and worked in Tel Aviv, was a father of two children – Yarin and Emily. Just a month before he was kidnapped, he celebrated his eldest daughter Emily's Bat Mitzvah.
Hanan's friends say that his trademark was his smile. Hanan loves sports and was a well-known fan of the Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club. His sister, Avivit, said Hanan loves good music, parties, and life in general. He loved to work but looked forward to weekends to spend time with friends. He was a strong and sensitive man, caring and a people person.
Michel, born in Brazil and made Aliyah to Israel at 13, was a father of two daughters and a grandfather to six grandchildren, the oldest of whom is 7 – and the youngest was born two months ago and didn’t get to meet his grandfather.
On October 7, following the rocket volleys, he went to pick up his granddaughter from a military base in Kibbutz Re'im, where she was staying with her father, an officer. At the time, no one knew about the terrorists’ infiltration.
Michel didn’t manage to reach his granddaughter and was abducted trying to reach her. The terrorists answered his phone at 7:23 a.m. His family only learned of his kidnapping in December, and have since expressed serious concerns about his health in captivity due to his Crohn’s disease.
Michel's sister, Mary Shohat, told Ynet in February that her daughters described the negotiations for a hostage release deal as "a roller coaster going up, – and suddenly crashing." She added her family knew nothing about Michel's fate, and his grandchildren and children are very attached to him.
The IDF reported that the bodies were identified at the National Center of Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir), and that the families were notified of the operation. "According to reliable intelligence we acquired, the hostages were murdered during the brutal terror attack on October 7 and kidnapped from the Mefalsim area to Gaza by Hamas terrorists.”
The statement added, "The bodies were recovered in an operation by the IDF and Shin Bet based on precise intelligence received and analyzed in recent days at the Military Intelligence Directorate, IDF Southern Command, and in cooperation with the Shin Bet."
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement, "The tragic return of Michel, Hanan, and Orion marks another heartbreak for the 125 hostages’ families, who share endless pain, sorrow, and worry. Their return for burial provides important closure for their families, and efforts must be made to bring all of the casualties back to Israel.”
“The retrieval of their bodies is a silent yet resolute reminder that the State of Israel is obligated to send negotiation teams immediately with a clear demand to secure a deal that will bring all of the hostages home quickly: the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial,” the statement added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, "The Israeli people, my wife Sara and I express our deep sorrow and embrace the grieving families in their difficult time. We have a national and moral obligation to do everything in our power to bring back our hostages - the living and the fallen - and that's what we’re doing. I commend the IDF and security forces who acted courageously deep inside enemy territory to return them back to their families and to burial in Israel."
President Isaac Herzog added, "This morning our broken hearts go out to the Yablonka, Hernandez, and Nisenbaum families as we receive the bitter news of the recovery of the bodies of their loved ones from Gaza.
"I send my full support to the courageous men and women of the IDF and Shin Bet, who are working tirelessly to return the hostages. It is our duty to bring everyone back - those still alive, and those we must bring for burial in Israel. May the memory of Hanan, Orion, and Michel be blessed."