ISRAELI authorities received the body of an Israeli hostage from Hamas terrorists after 763 “nightmarish” days for the heartbroken family.
The IDF identified the latest hostage’s remains as those of Lior Rudaeff, a volunteer ambulance driver who was killed in the October 7 attacks.
The Israeli-Argentinian was 61 at the time of the bloody cross-border attack and one of five armed civilians killed while trying to defend his community, the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz.
His death was confirmed by Israeli authorities in May 2024, and his name was put on the list of 20 living and 28 dead former hostages that Hamas agreed to return under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire.
Lior’s daughter Noam Rudaeff said: “After 763 days of nightmare, he came home. Now you are home, now you are here.”
“Thank you to all the good people who stood with us in our uncompromising and humane fight to return him and all the hostages home.”
The family of deceased hostage Lior Rudaeff, whose body was returned from Gaza overnight, welcomes the news, saying that it brings an end to “763 nightmarish days.”
“After 763 days of nightmare, he came home,” Rudaeff’s daughter Noam posts on social media with a picture of her father. Now you are home, now you are here.
“Thank you to all the good people who stood with us in our uncompromising and humane fight to return him and all the hostages home.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group representing the Israeli families caught up in the crisis, welcomed Rudaeff’s homecoming.
“Lior’s return provides some measure of comfort to a family that has lived with agonising uncertainty and doubt for over two years,” it said.
“We will not rest until the last hostage is brought home.”
Hamas has yet to return the bodies of five more hostages.
Four were seized in the October 7 attack, as well as the remains of a soldier who died in combat in 2014 during a previous Gaza conflict.
The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal brokered last month by US President Donald Trump paved the way for a hostage and prisoner exchange.
Since the US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza began on October 10, Hamas have released the remains of 23 hostages held for the past two years.
In exchange, Israel has released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in its custody and returned the bodies of hundreds of Palestinians.
But the process of returning the bodies of the five remaining hostages, as called for under the truce deal, is progressing slowly.
Hamas says it has not been able to reach all of the remains because they are buried under rubble left by Israel‘s two-year offensive in Gaza.
Israel has accused the militants of dragging their feet and threatened to resume military operations or withhold humanitarian aid if all remains are not returned.
Hostages whose remains have not been returned
Meny Godard, 73
Meny Godard was a professional soccer player before enlisting in the Israeli military and serving in the 1973 Mideast War, according to Kibbutz Beeri.
He served in a variety of different positions in the kibbutz, including at its printing press.
On the morning of Oct. 7, Godard and his wife, Ayelet, were forced out of their home after it was set on fire.
She hid in the bushes for a number of hours before militants discovered her and killed her. She was able to tell her children that Meny had been killed before she died.
The family held a double funeral for the couple.
They are survived by four children and six grandchildren.
Hadar Goldin, 23
Hadar Goldins remains are the only ones that have been held in Gaza since before the war. The Israeli soldier was killed on August 1, 2014, two hours after a ceasefire took effect, ending that year’s war between Israel and Hamas.
Based on evidence found in the tunnel where Goldin’s body was taken, including a blood-soaked shirt and prayer fringes, the military quickly determined that he had been killed in the attack.
Goldin is survived by his parents and three siblings, including a twin. He had proposed to his fiancée before he was killed.
Earlier this year, Goldins family marked 4,000 days since his body was taken.
he military retrieved the body of another soldier who was killed in the 2014 war earlier this year.
Ran Gvili, 24
Ran Gvili, who served in an elite police unit, was recovering from a broken shoulder he sustained in a motorcycle accident, but rushed to assist fellow officers on October 7.
After helping people escape from the Nova music festival, he was killed fighting at another location and his body was taken to Gaza.
The military confirmed his death four months later. He is survived by his parents and a sister.
Dror Or, 52
Dror Or was a father of three who worked at the dairy farm on Kibbutz Beeri for 15 years, rising to the position of manager.
He was an expert cheesemaker, according to family and friends. On Oct. 7, the family was hiding in their safe room when militants lit the house on fire.
Dror and his wife, Yonat, were killed. Two of their children, Noam, who was then 16, and Alma, then 13, were abducted and released during the November 2023 ceasefire.
Sudthisak Rinthalak
Sudthisak Rinthalak was an agricultural worker from Thailand who had been employed at Kibbutz Beeri.
According to media reports, Rinthalak was divorced and had been working in Israel since 2017.
A total of 31 workers from Thailand were kidnapped on Oct. 7, the largest group of foreigners to be held in captivity.
Most of them were released in the first and second ceasefires. T
he Thai Foreign Ministry has said in addition to the hostages, 46 Thais have been killed during the war.
