Elad Or, the brother of Dror Or—who was murdered alongside his wife Yonat in the October 7 massacre—told Ynet on Tuesday that he is “exhausted” after learning his brother’s body was returned from Gaza for burial in Israel. Two of Dror’s children, Noam and Alma, were abducted to Gaza during the attack and were later released.
“This carries with it more than two years,” he said, adding, “It’s a relief to no longer be part of this ongoing act of terror. Every day that Dror wasn’t brought home, we were still under attack from October 7. His return brings that part to an end. I hope we can be sad together, be a family again. To put a period at the end of the sentence—for Yahli, Alma and Noam. We were with them all morning. It’s exactly two years since Alma and Noam came back. It symbolizes a return to life in the face of death.”
He said the children had been waiting for this day. “It’s very sad. We’ve been carrying the burden of uncertainty and a demand for action when we didn’t even know what action to take. It’s also the closing of a chapter for Kibbutz Be’eri, for the Gaza border communities. We continue to call for the return of Ran Gvili and Sudthisak [Rinthalak]. This wouldn’t have happened without the Trump deal, and without the extraordinary work of the IDF and intelligence services. Now I finally have the chance to say goodbye to my brother fully, not halfway. Until now, one eye was on him and the other on the struggle.”
Yuval Or, the father of Dror and Elad, told Army Radio that his heart was “choked.” “I say, ‘Enough. Let this end. Let this definition end—of being the last hostage.’ There are still two more, I know. But to be one of the last families… I’m so angry at everything here, but suddenly there are so many good people, and I can’t keep up the anger,” he said.
He spoke about Dror’s deep love of yoga. “He was an artist,” he explained. “There’s a lot in yoga that’s artistic—regular practice, as far as I understand—but he really lived it. He was quiet inside, even more than his mother. That calmness came from her.”
“We hope to hold the funeral this Sunday,” Yuval added. “It will be public, of course—so many people want to come. It’s symbolic, too—the last hostage in the Gaza border region, from Be’eri. Let me tell you something: Dror returned last night, between November 25 and 26. Exactly two years ago, at the same hour, his two children came back from captivity.”
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ODF soldiers salute during the reception of the coffin of hostage Dror Or
(Photo: IDF)
Speaking about his grandchildren—Noam and Alma, who were kidnapped to Gaza at ages 16 and 13 and now live with him and his wife at Kibbutz Hatzerim—Yuval said, “I think they’re a little tired, a little smiling. Yahli too. Let’s see if they find closure. I hope Noam is doing well. He’s doing a pre-military service year, working. He now wakes up at the times he used to go to bed just a few months ago. Yahli just came back from quite a long trip around the world. Alma is in 10th grade, enjoying life, playing volleyball.”
Earlier Tuesday, former Eshkol Regional Council head Chaim Yellin, a resident of Be’eri, also spoke about Dror’s return. “It’s terribly sad that we lost Dror,” he told ynet studio. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but at least now the family has a grave. The children are with their grandparents in Hatzerim, who became their parents overnight and are now supporting their grandchildren.”
Dror Or, 48, was murdered and abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri during the October 7 attack. According to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, his body was located in Nuseirat, in central Gaza. For months after his murder, Dror was classified as a hostage, but after 208 days, his family was informed he was no longer alive. Dror was the father of three—Yahli, Noam and Alma.
His wife Yonat was also killed during the massacre. Two of their children, Noam and Alma, were kidnapped to Gaza and released in the November 25, 2023, hostage deal. Upon their return, they revealed they had not known their mother had been murdered. Their oldest brother Yahli was on a pre-military service year in northern Israel at the time and survived.
Noam and Alma’s testimony about the horrors of captivity
Following their release from captivity in Gaza as part of the first hostage deal, Noam and Alma’s maternal uncle, Ahal Besorai—who lives in the Philippines—told international media that throughout their time in captivity, the two had no idea their mother had been murdered on October 7.
Besorai told CNN at the time that the hope of reuniting with their mother gave them strength during their prolonged and harrowing ordeal in Gaza. They only received the devastating news upon their release on a Saturday, when they were reunited with family members—including their older brother Yahli, then 18, who was doing a year of pre-military service and had been in northern Israel during the massacre.
“This dream had been shattered by the fact that she was murdered,” Besorai told CNN. “My sister, their mom, was murdered on October 7. The children did not know that. We thought they were together when they were kidnapped, but they were separated from the outset. When they first crossed the border and reunited with their grandmother and older brother, the first news that they had to confront was the fact that their mom is no longer alive. And that was a terribly emotional and traumatic moment for them.”
Besorai told The Guardian that the two were also unaware their father had been kidnapped, and only upon their release did their relatives learn the full extent of the horrors the family endured during Hamas’ terrorist assault.
According to Besorai, Noam and Alma said that on the morning of the massacre, they and their parents hid in the family’s safe room. When Hamas terrorists set their house on fire to force them out, the children jumped out of a window and tried to hide elsewhere in the kibbutz, but the attackers found them and took them to Gaza in a car they had stolen. Noam was placed in the trunk, while Alma was in the front seat alongside eight Hamas terrorists.
He added that Noam and Alma were not held in tunnels, but in a room inside a house, where they were held with another hostage—Carmel Gat. Their father was not held with them. Besorai emphasized that their time in captivity was “devastating,” and while they were not kept underground, “There were other things that happened that made the experience difficult, very difficult.”
The uncle declined to elaborate on those hardships so as not to distress families whose loved ones remain in captivity. He said the two developed a close bond with Carmel. “I asked them how did you manage to survive and they said that they supported each other in this triad, if you like. So when someone was down, the other would encourage them and lend moral support.”
Before their release, Besorai recounted, their captors staged a ruse—apparently to prevent Carmel from realizing Noam and Alma were being freed. The terrorists told them they were going to the bathroom, but instead tied them up, blindfolded them and took them to a vehicle that brought them to the Red Cross.
In his conversation with The Guardian, Besorai said his niece and nephew are “really happy to be back,” but he expressed concern about the trauma they experienced and its lasting impact. “Obviously, she has lost weight and looks much, much slimmer, but her beautiful smile and glittering eyes warms your heart so I started to cry,” he said, describing their first video call after the release.
After Carmel was murdered in captivity, Noam paid tribute to her in a post on his Instagram account, writing: “Thank you for taking care of me. Because of you, I’m here today ❤️.”
In February last year, Alma wrote a tribute to her mother in an Instagram post: “Mom, it’s been four months that I haven’t spoken about you at all. Four months I’ve tried not to mention you. Four months I’ve tried to suppress everything. Four months I couldn’t believe it. Four months since they took from me the most important thing in my world. I can’t believe you’re not here. Until now, I couldn’t talk about you.
“I kept it all to myself and pushed it away. I’m glad we managed to say ‘I love you’ to each other that day, but I never got the chance to say goodbye properly. I’ve dreamed about you so much—I miss you so deeply. I can’t believe I’m even talking about you in the past tense. The thing I feared most my entire life came in one day. I always knew there would be a day you wouldn’t be here anymore—but I didn’t think that day would be now.
“Beyond just missing my mom, I miss your laughter. I miss your hugs. I miss the one who would tell me to stand my ground and not care about anyone who got in my way. I miss your strength. I miss your voice. I miss your fear. I miss your breath. You’re just missing from everything I do in life. I miss coming home and you asking me ‘How was your day?’ or ‘How was practice?’”
She added painfully: “Mom, I can’t stop thinking about you and about how I didn’t talk about you all this time. Now I just hope that somehow you’re seeing all this from above and smiling. I hope you’re there with all your friends—and mine.”