No more hostages from Be'eri remain in the Strip

Body of Dror Or, devoted father and Be’eri cheesemaker, returned to Israel from Gaza

Remains of captive, whose wife was slain on October 7, handed over exactly two years after two of his children, Noam and Alma, were freed from Hamas captivity; 2 slain hostages still held

The body of Dror Or was returned to Israel from Gaza by Palestinian terror groups on Tuesday evening, Israeli authorities announced Wednesday morning.

The announcement came after his remains were identified by the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv overnight and his family was notified.

Or, 48, was murdered by Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken captive from Kibbutz Be’eri. His wife, Yonat Or, was also murdered during the onslaught in Be’eri, and their younger children, Noam and Alma, were abducted alive and then returned in a ceasefire deal on November 25, 2023, exactly two years to the day before their father’s body was returned.

Islamic Jihad claimed that it had “found” Or’s body in central Gaza’s Nuseirat on Monday. The following afternoon, Islamic Jihad and Hamas handed over the body to the Red Cross, which delivered it to the IDF.

The bodies of two slain hostages now remain held in the Strip — those of police officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Or family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Wednesday morning.

The PMO said that Israel is “determined, committed, and working tirelessly” to bring back the remaining two slain hostages for burial, adding that Hamas is “required to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement.”

According to Palestinian media outlets, the IDF handed over the remains of 15 Palestinians to the Red Cross via the Kissufim Border Crossing in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday. The terms of the Gaza ceasefire call for Israel to hand over 15 bodies in exchange for the remains of every hostage returned.

In a statement on Wednesday, Kibbutz Be’eri mourned Or as a “devoted father of three children — Yahli, Noam and Alma — a loving husband to the late Yonat, a son to Dorit and Yuval, and a brother to Elad and Dana, who worked constantly for his release.”

With the return of Or’s body, the kibbutz noted that “for the first time since October 7, there are no hostages from Kibbutz Be’eri in captivity.”

Or was born and raised in Kibbutz Re’im, not far from Be’eri. He attended the Tadmor Culinary School and then worked in a number of restaurants in Tel Aviv. He married Yonat, who hailed from Be’eri, and the family lived in Tel Aviv before deciding to settle in her home kibbutz.

Or worked in the kibbutz’s printing house before returning to his culinary roots and moving to join its cheesemaking operation in 2009. He later studied cheesemaking in Italy and France and ran a dairy catering business.

In a statement on Wednesday, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum remembered Or as “an active and involved father and a loving and supportive husband.”

“Dror was a wonderful cheesemaker — according to his friends, co-workers, and those who had the pleasure of tasting his handmade cheeses,” the forum said. “Dror has been returned to Israel for burial in the earth of Be’eri that he loved so much.”

Dagan Peleg, who worked with Or at the Be’eri dairy, told The Times of Israel in July 2024 that “we didn’t agree on the small things, but that was part of what made us work. He had a golden touch; he knew all kinds of things.” He said that Or was a talented chef “with an amazing touch, God touched him.”

On the morning of October 7, terrorists who invaded Be’eri set fire to the Or home, and Dror and Yonat decided to send their children out the window before following. They all split up, and Yonat was murdered and Noam and Alma were taken hostage to Gaza. Separately, Dror’s nephew Liam Or was also taken hostage from Kibbutz Re’im. The couple’s eldest son, Yahli, was not home that day.

Noam and Alma were released from Gaza on November 25, 2023, during a weeklong ceasefire, and Liam was freed several days later. Dror’s fate at that time was still unknown.

On May 2, 2024, the kibbutz announced that it had been determined that Dror had been killed on October 7 and his body taken captive to Gaza. The family sat shiva, the weeklong Jewish mourning period, at the time, but could not hold a funeral.

For two years, his family rallied for his return and worked tirelessly to bring him back to Israel.

Several weeks ago, his brother Elad Or told The Times of Israel that the family lived in fear of his body never being returned, in particular if the shaky ceasefire collapsed.

“If this deal breaks, then we’ll be like Hadar Goldin,” said Elad Or, referring to the soldier who was killed and taken captive in 2014. His body was held in Gaza for 11 years before it was finally returned to Israel two weeks ago.

Elad Or said that in the two years since their release from Gaza, Noam and Alma were experiencing a mix of tremendous sadness and pain, while still seeking to live their lives normally.

“For them, the ability to bury their father next to their mother in Be’eri, where they grew up, is very meaningful,” said Or. “It will be another symbol that at least that part of the story is closed.”

Noam Lehmann and Jessica Steinberg contributed to this report.