Ron Sherman, 19, texted as Hamas entered base: ‘Mom, it’s over, I love you’
In the IDF, he liaised between Gaza businesses and border. He was kidnapped from his base outside of Gaza, October 7
The death of Ron Sherman, 19, was confirmed by the IDF on December 15, 2023, and his body was returned to Israel for burial. This is the story of his capture and its aftermath:
Ron Sherman, 19, last spoke to his mother on the morning of October 7, when his army base near the Gaza border was attacked by Hamas terrorists.
Sherman, an Israeli with Argentinian citizenship, was on the phone with his mother Saturday morning as rockets began to fall from Gaza and she called to check in.
“They got cut off,” said Shalhev Kimchi, his aunt, in a video made by Bring Them Home, the grassroots organization helping tell the stories of those missing following the overwhelming Hamas terrorist attacks.
When Sherman’s phone call with his mother was cut off, he switched to WhatsApp text messages.
“He told her he loves her,” said his aunt.
“That’s it, Mom, they’re here, it’s over, I love you,” wrote Sherman.
However, some four or five hours later, said Kimchi, they found Hamas videos of Sherman, “whole and healthy,” she said, but bound in the back of a pickup truck, taken captive by an unarmed person from Gaza.
Sherman, said his aunt, has asthma and needs his inhaler, and isn’t in a combat unit because of his breathing issues.
His army duty includes coordinating and connecting between the local authority and businesses in Gaza, and he was in regular touch with local Gazan businesses, helping organize and export their goods to Israel and back, wrote one friend on Facebook.
“He’s strong,” said his younger sister, Eden Sherman. “He has the characteristics you need to get through this. He is so missed.”
