Bodies of victims held by Hamas in Gaza

Kibbutz resident Tal Chaimi, Tanzanian Joshua Mollel confirmed killed by Hamas

Chaimi left home on morning of massacre to fight terrorists as part of rapid response team, was killed on Oct. 7; Mollel, an agricultural intern on Nahal Oz, murdered in captivity

By ToI Staff 13 December 2023, 10:21 pm

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From left to right: Joshua Mollel, a Tanzanian agricultural intern on Nahal Oz who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, then murdered by Hamas-led terrorists in captivity. (Courtesy); Tal Chaimi (right), here with his wife Ella, was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. His family was told on December 13, 2023, that he was killed during the October 7 attack. (Courtesy)

Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak resident Tal Chaimi and Tanzanian agricultural intern Joshua Mollel, who resided in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, were murdered by Gaza terrorists during and after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, authorities confirmed Wednesday. Their bodies are believed held by terrorists in the Strip.

The Chaimi family and Nir Yitzhak were informed by authorities that Tal was killed during the October 7 massacre, they said in a joint statement Wednesday.

“His family and friends say that he was always the first to help, to lend a hand, and to instill calm and confidence in everyone around him,” the statement read.

Chaimi, 41, married to Ella and father to three children, was a third-generation member of Nir Yitzhak and was part of the kibbutz rapid response team.

He went out that morning when it appeared that terrorists were infiltrating the kibbutz, as his wife and children barricaded themselves in their home’s shelter.

The couple spoke once that morning, and when Ella sent Tal a WhatsApp at 12 p.m., it didn’t go through.

File: The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, near the Israel-Gaza border, in southern Israel, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

“Then I realized that maybe everything isn’t okay,” she said in a video testimony.

The rest of the emergency squad returned to the kibbutz and as Ella asked where Tal was, no one responded and she understood that something had happened.

While terrorists did reach some of the homes in Nir Yitzhak, they never reached Tal and Ella’s home that day.

When the military regained control of the community, the family was sent to Beersheba and from there to Eilat, where Ella has been with her kids and the rest of the kibbutz.

Chaimi’s mother Esti succumbed to cancer three months ago.

Mollel, 21, was abducted during the terrorist onslaught and then killed later in captivity, Nahal Oz announced.

In a Facebook post, the kibbutz said its officials were notified that his body is currently held by Hamas.

“We send condolences to Joshua’s family. May his memory be a blessing,” the statement read.

Mollel had only arrived in Israel in mid-September, his first time traveling out of Tanzania.

He was excited to learn more about farming, according to AP, and wanted to open his own agricultural business.

Nir Yitzhak and Nahal Oz were among dozens of communities that were devastated during the October 7 Hamas onslaught, when some 3,000 terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking a further 240 hostage.

It is believed that 135 hostages remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of four hostages have also been recovered. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 20 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.