October 7 · Personal story
Ilan Weiss
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Be’eri
Current outcome
Returned for burial · August 28, 2025
Ilan was killed while going to defend Be’eri on October 7, 2023. His body was returned on August 28, 2025, and he was buried in Be’eri on September 1.
01
Life before October 7
Ilan was born in Holon in 1967. He was a curious child who preferred fields to classrooms and often joined agricultural workers near his school. In tenth grade he moved to Ramat Rachel as a youth resident and completed high school there. He enlisted in the IDF as a combat engineer, but an injury changed his service; his commanders let him choose another placement, and he became an air-traffic controller at Nevatim. After discharge he returned to agricultural work, specializing in cotton and crop protection. In 1992 he came to Be’eri to work in field crops, the kibbutz’s first young outside hire in that program. He met Shiri Boyum there; they married in 1995 and raised Meital, Maayan, and Noga. Ilan’s work in Be’eri changed over the years with the needs of the community. He served as its security coordinator and led field crops, then earned a management degree at Ruppin Academic Center. He worked at the Be’eri printing house, managed the garage’s parts store, returned to landscaping, and became the kibbutz’s infrastructure manager, coordinating building, electricity, plumbing, roads, gas, and communications. For four years he was deputy head of the civilian emergency team. At home, he was the family’s dependable center: he cooked during the pandemic and kept doing it, hosted barbecues, rode bicycles with his brother-in-law Gil on weekends, and tended his garden with a beer after work. The family’s August 2023 trip to Budapest included a visit to his father’s childhood home.
02
October 7
Ilan planned a 6:15 a.m. bicycle ride with Gil and a friend, then canceled and returned to bed. When the alarms began, he sheltered with Shiri and Noga. After learning that Be’eri’s security coordinator was unreachable and the emergency team could not access the armory, Ilan took the keys and left to open it for the defenders. Noga later recalled him saying he would be back in a few minutes. He was killed while going to defend Be’eri; Shiri and Noga were abducted.
03
After October 7
After Ilan left to help defend Be’eri, his family did not know what had happened to him. Shiri and Noga were released on November 25, 2023. On January 1, 2024, Be’eri confirmed that Ilan had been killed on October 7 and that his body was held in Gaza.
04
Return and burial
Ilan’s body was recovered in an Israeli military operation in late August 2025. The National Insurance Institute records its return to Israel on August 28. He was buried in Be’eri on September 1.
05
A life of care
Family and community accounts remembered Ilan as a dependable presence at home and in Be’eri. He cooked for his family, hosted barbecues, rode bicycles with his brother-in-law, and tended his garden. At work he took on changing roles as the kibbutz needed him, including infrastructure manager and deputy head of the emergency team.