‘Our Hearts Are Broken’: Oldest Hostage at Gaza Declared Killed by Hamas on October 7; Body Still Being Held
Shlomo Mansour was born at Baghdad where he survived the Farhud pogrom as a child and later immigrated to Israel.
Shlomo Mansour, the oldest hostage held at Gaza, a beloved ‘father, a grandfather, a true friend,’ has been declared killed on October 7 by Hamas terrorists.
The 86-year-old Mansour was on the list of 33 hostages set to be released from Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The IDF announced that Mansour was killed in Kibbutz Kissifum near the Gaza border on October 7. Hamas then kidnapped his body into Gaza where it’s still being held.
The army said that the decision to confirm his death was based on intelligence gathered in recent months and was “approved by an expert committee of the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Religious Services and the Israel Police.”
“This is one of the most difficult days in the history of our kibbutz. Shlomo was much more than a community member to us — he was a father, a grandfather, a true friend and the beating heart of Kissufim,” Kibbutz Kissufim said in a statement on Tuesday morning.
“His smile, modesty and human warmth were an inspiration to us all. Our hearts are broken that we were unable to bring him back to us alive. The entire community grieves his loss and is united in grief and pain,” they added.
Mansour was born at Baghdad where he survived as a child the Farhud pogrom, a pro-Nazi coup d’état that claimed the lives of 175 Jews and injured 1,000, and later immigrated to Israel with his family at age 13.
He was among the founders of Kibbutz Kissufim, where he worked in the kibbutz chicken coop and eyewear factory, according to Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters.
He was known as a “dedicated worker with golden hands, and as a hobby, he learned carpentry and jewelry making,” the forum added.
Prime Minister Netanyahu also released a statement following the confirmation of Mansour’s death, saying: “We share in the family’s deep mourning. We will neither rest nor be silent until he is returned for burial in Israel.”
“We will continue to take determined and relentless action until we return all of our hostages — the living and the deceased. May his memory be blessed,” Mr. Netanyahu added.
Mansour is survived by his wife, five siblings, five children, and 12 grandchildren.
