Forces from the military and Shin Bet security service recovered the body of slain hostage Ilan Weiss in an operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.
His body was recovered along with the remains of a second hostage, whose name was not immediately published as the identification process was still ongoing at the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine.
Weiss, 56, was killed on the morning of October 7, 2023, while defending Kibbutz Be’eri from Hamas-led terrorists as a member of the emergency response team.
His wife Shiri and daughter Noga were also taken hostage and later freed during a weeklong truce and hostage release deal in November 2023.
The IDF said the complex recovery mission in Gaza was carried out by Southern Command forces with intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate, the Shin Bet, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
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The forum mourned Weiss as “a loving and devoted family man, [who] excelled at cooking and loved to barbecue.” The group added in its statement: “The hostages are running out of time. We must return all of them home, now!”
Noga (left), Shiri (middle) and Ilan Weiss were all missing following the October 7 assault by Hamas terrorists on Kibbutz Be’eri. Noga and Shiri were taken hostage by Hamas, and released on November 25, 2023. (Courtesy)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to the families of Weiss and the other recovered hostage, while praising security forces for their “determination and courage.”
He reiterated that Israel “will not rest until all hostages are returned — the living and the dead.”
According to official figures, 48 hostages now remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, and about two of whom the government has expressed “grave concern.” The remaining hostages have been confirmed dead by the military.
Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a statement, noted that Weiss “bravely managed the defensive battle in Be’eri and prevented an even greater disaster, alongside other heroes.”
Katz also hailed the “heroic” work of IDF and Shin Bet forces in the mission, adding, “We will not rest and we will not stop until everyone returns home.”
A woman looks at a battle-scarred home in Kibbutz Be’eri as Israel marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
President Isaac Herzog sent his “heartfelt condolences and support” to Weiss’s family, saying in a statement: “692 days after he was brutally kidnapped with his wife Shiri and their daughter Noga, Ilan’s body was recovered in a joint IDF and Shin Bet operation. A moment of deep sorrow, but also of closure.”
“Ilan showed courage and noble spirit when he fought the terrorists on that dark day. In his death, he gave life. And ever since, his family has shown extraordinary strength in their struggle for his return,” he said.
The president called for the world to “show moral clarity, apply pressure and act for the immediate release of all the hostages.”
“We will not rest until every one of them is brought home, the living to the loving embrace of their families, and the fallen to be laid to rest in dignity. Every last one,” he said.
I offer my heartfelt condolences and support to the Weiss family and the community of Kibbutz Be’eri upon the recovery of the body of hostage Ilan Weiss, of blessed memory.
692 days after he was brutally kidnapped with his wife Shiri and their daughter Noga, Ilan’s body was… pic.twitter.com/PK4uKm3hdB
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) August 29, 2025
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid hailed the “heroic operation,” writing on X that he “embraces [Weiss’s] family in this difficult time.”
“May his return for a fitting burial in Israel be some comfort,” Lapid wished, adding: “We must return all of them home.”
Anti-government protests to fold into main hostage demo
Also Friday, it was announced that a weekly anti-government protest held in Tel Aviv on Saturday nights would fold into the central demonstration held by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, to avoid a split in the movement.
“Go to junctions near your homes, to Hostages Square, and to every protest location where they’re fighting for my Matan and the other 49 hostages,” wrote Einav Zangauker, whose son is held hostage in Gaza.
“I want to thank the amazing public who have joined us and supported me and the other families. Only the nation will return the hostages.”
Zangauker had led the protests on Begin Road, which — unlike the demonstrations at nearby Hostages Square — were explicitly anti-government and organized in part by anti-government protest groups.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, speaks to protesters on Begin Road, Tel Aviv, August 16, 2025. (Vardit Alon-Korpel/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)
The more political of the Saturday night demonstrations was started in November 2023 by Hadas Calderon, whose sons Sahar and Erez and ex-husband Ofer had been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists during the October 7 attack. All three were later freed during hostage-ceasefire deals.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced that the protest this week at Hostages Square will mark a year since the murder of six hostages in a tunnel in Rafah.
“The advancement of the plan to conquer Gaza City, while a deal for the return of the hostages is on the negotiating table and is not discussed by the security cabinet, is a bloody reminder of the events of the last year — military pressure kills hostages,” the forum said in a statement.
“Enough of this continuing nightmare. Forty-two of our brothers and sisters were abducted alive and murdered in captivity — we must not reach 43.”
Protests have swelled in recent weeks after the government approved plans to take over Gaza City in the northern Strip.
The operation, expected to last months, has sparked fears for the fate of the remaining hostages, as well as the soldiers tasked with carrying out the maneuver. Meanwhile, the cabinet has refrained from discussing the hostage-ceasefire deal that Hamas said earlier this month it had agreed to.
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