The body of Ron Benjamin, 53, was found along with the bodies of three hostages - Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Itzhak Gelerenter - whose repatriation was announced on Friday, said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

The same source indicated that the bodies of these hostages were recovered "during a joint operation of the army and the intelligence agency" based on information obtained, namely, "during the interrogation of terrorists detained in the Gaza Strip".

The spokesman explained, and according to information verified by the Israeli military authorities, "Ron Benjamin was assassinated (...) on October 7" and "his body taken to Gaza" by Hamas.

"After the identification procedure carried out (...) at the Israeli National Institute of Forensic Medicine", the army "informed his family today", added the spokesman.

Ending Shabbat with heartbreaking
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The IDF and ISA rescued the body of hostage Ron Benjamin in a special operation.

Based on verified intelligence, Ron was murdered on October 7, at the Mefsalim intersection and his body was kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas terrorists.… pic.twitter.com/DdgP6wu99e

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) May 18, 2024

On the morning of October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas attack in southern Israel, Ron Benjamin had planned a bike ride near the border with the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli left home around 6:30 am to join friends at Kibbutz Beeri, but returned home when he heard the sirens.

After calling his wife Ayalet, he left a voicemail at 7:30 am on the cell phone of one of his daughters, who was abroad, and this was his last contact with the family.

His older brother, Shuki, found Ron's car riddled with bullets on the side of the road.

Of the 252 people taken hostage by Hamas during the October attack, 124 are still being held in Gaza, 37 of whom are dead, according to the Israeli military.

"The sacred mission of repatriating the body" of Ron Benjamin "will allow his family to grant him eternal rest in the land of Israel," the Hostage Families Forum, the main association of family members, said in a press release.

The same forum argued that "the Israeli government should focus on the only mission that matters, which is to send negotiating teams tonight and fight for the return (of the hostages), the living and the dead".

The Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip has caused more than 35,000 deaths and nearly 80,000 injuries in seven months, according to data from the enclave's health ministry, which has been controlled by Hamas since 2007.

The current conflict was triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which caused around 1,200 deaths and two hundred hostages, according to Israeli authorities.

The Israeli retaliation is causing a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with more than 1.1 million people in a "catastrophic hunger situation" that is already claiming victims - "the highest number ever recorded" by the UN in food security studies in the world.

Read Also: IDF recover bodies of three hostages, including Israeli-German Shani Louk (Portuguese version)