Hamas releases body of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat after 510 days of captivity

On February 27, 2025, the body of Itzik Elgarat was released by Hamas as part of the first phase of a negotiated ceasefire-hostage release deal. According to initial forensic reports released by the Prime Minister’s Office, Elgarat was murdered in captivity. Below are initial reports of his capture and its aftermath:

Itzik Elgarat, 68, was in his Kibbutz Nir Oz home on the morning of October 7 when Hamas terrorists attacked his home, shooting him through his safe room door, injuring him, and taking him captive.

“I spoke to him at 10:30 in the morning,” said his brother Danny Elgarat, a former Ashdod police commander. “He was hysterical and hurt in the hand.”

Itzik had gone to lock the safe room door when the terrorists shot at the door. Danny, his brother, was on the phone with him at the time and could hear yelling in the background.

Itzik said, “Danny, this is the end, this is the end.”

At 12:10, Danny Elgarat saw that his brother’s phone was located in Gaza.

Danny went down to Nir Oz days later, where he described smelling the burning plastic throughout the kibbutz and seeing the ruins of his brother’s home, which had been vandalized and torn apart.

Itzik Elgarat’s nephew, Ben Danzig, whose father Alex Danzig was also taken captive from Nir Oz and murdered, describes Itzik as a good man who likes to work with his hands.

Itzik Elgarat has citizenship from Denmark and two children who live there.