Kibbutz Kissufim on Tuesday announced that Shlomo Mansour, H’yd, 86, was murdered in Hamas captivity.

Mansour, z’l, the oldest hostage in Gaza, was a survivor of the 1941 Farhud pogrom in Iraq and immigrated to Israel in 1951. On October 7, he was abducted from his home on Kibbutz Kissufim by Hamas terrorists who beat him, bound him, and dragged him to Gaza.

The terrorists tried to abduct his wife Mazal as well, calling her by name, pretending to be Shlomo, and even setting the house on fire. But she managed to escape and was rescued many hours later by IDF forces.

According to a Kan News report,  IDF representatives informed his family on Tuesday that Hamas murdered him on October 7, 2023, and his body is being held in the Gaza Strip.

The decision to determine his death was based on intelligence gathered over the past months and was approved by a committee of experts from the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Israel Police.

Following the announcement, Shlomo’s daughter-in-law, Chana, told Kan News: “A black cloud has been hovering over us since the abduction. We didn’t receive any information about him during the past year and four months. We hoped he would be released at some point, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. He was loved in the family; everyone loved him.”

The kibbutz said in a statement: “With a heavy heart, we, the members of the kibbutz, received the announcement this morning about the murder in Hamas captivity of our dear friend, Shlomo Mansour, 86, who was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Kissufim in the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2024.”

“This is one of the most difficult days in the history of our kibbutz. Shlomo was much more than a community man for us – he was a father, grandfather, true friend, and the beating heart of Kissufim. His smile, modesty, and warmth were an inspiration to us all. Our hearts are broken that we couldn’t bring him back to us alive. The entire community mourns his loss and is united in grief and pain. We ask the media to respect the privacy of the family and the community during this difficult time.”

“We send our sincere and deepest condolences to his wife, Mazal, and to the entire Mansour family, who bore the pain of Shlomo’s absence every day and every night. This loss is a wound that will not heal, but our community will support and embrace the family. In addition, we call on the Israeli government and world leaders to continue to act decisively to return all the hostages, living and dead, and not to allow painful stories like Shlomo’s to repeat themselves.”

The IDF stated, “We are operating throughout the war in a wide range of methods in order to gather information about the hostages in the Gaza Strip. The IDF and other security agencies will continue to support the families of the hostages as needed.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)