Slain hostage identified as Ronen Engel, father of 3

Ronen Engel, 54, was a member of his kibbutz’s emergency response team; he was killed while battling Hamas terrorists, who had invaded his community.

By World Israel News Staff

The body of a hostage returned overnight by the Hamas terror group was confirmed Sunday morning to be that of Ronen Engel, his family told Hebrew-language media.

Engel, 54, was originally from Tel Aviv but had lived in the Gaza-adjacent Kibbutz Nir Oz for more than a decade when he was murdered during the October 7 massacre.

He was a member of the kibbutz’s emergency response squad and had attempted to stave off the invasion of his community on that morning.

During the onslaught, Engel left his wife and children in their home’s safe room and went out to confront the terrorists. He was killed in a gunfight, and his body was abducted to the Gaza Strip.

Engel’s wife, Karina, and daughters Mika, 18, and Yuval, 11, were kidnapped during the attack and held captive in Gaza for about 50 days before being freed in a November 2023 hostage-prisoner exchange. Another son, Tom, was not on the kibbutz at the time of the assault.

For months, Engel’s fate was uncertain. In December 2023, Israeli authorities informed the family that he had been murdered and his body was kidnapped to the Strip.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Hamas transferred two hostage bodies to the Red Cross, which later handed them over to Israel. Forensic testing confirmed Engel’s identity. Later in the day, the second body was identified as that of Thai citizen Sontaya Ukkharsri, who was murdered in the fields of Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7.

“After 744 days, my father finally returned home,” Mika wrote on Instagram.

“It’s not what we hoped, it’s not what we wished for him, but it’s finally here,” she added.

“Our hearts are with the families of the hostages, and we won’t stop until the final slain hostage is returned home.”