October 7 · Personal story
Itzhak “Itzik” Gelerenter
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Near Mefalsim Junction, after leaving Nova near Re’im
Current outcome
Returned for burial · May 17, 2024
His body was recovered from Gaza and returned to Israel for burial.
01
Before 7 October
Itzhak “Itzik” Gelerenter was born in Ashdod on 10 May 1967 and grew up there. He studied at the Naval Officers School in Acre, then served as an officer. He later became a senior manager, a role his younger brother described with pride. He and his family moved around Israel before making a home in Irus. Itzhak raised four children and became a grandfather; relatives remembered a restless, ambitious person who made room for sport, friends, music and evenings by the sea. His children were Yarden, Asaf, Omer and Hila; he had two grandchildren through Yarden. His younger brother remembered a demanding executive who spent afternoons exercising and evenings drinking beer by the sea with younger friends. Before settling in Irus near Ness Ziona, Itzhak lived in Eilat and the communities around Aseret, then bought a home in Ashdod.
02
7 October
Itzhak went to the Nova festival near Re’im with friends the night before the attack. His family did not know he was there until messages arrived the next day. As he and others fled, their car reached the Mefalsim area; he was killed on 7 October and his body was taken to Gaza.
03
In Gaza
His family searched hospitals and the festival area before receiving word that he had been taken to Gaza. The Shin Bet later confirmed that Itzhak and the others recovered with him had been killed at Mefalsim Junction on 7 October; their bodies had been taken to Gaza.
04
Return and burial
Israeli forces recovered Itzhak’s body from Gaza on 17 May 2024. He was buried at Palmachim cemetery. His daughter Yarden said the family was grateful to have a grave where they could come and pay their respects.
05
A life remembered
His younger brother remembered Itzhak as a model who set goals and pursued them, and as the person he turned to for advice. His children and siblings held onto memories of a father who loved his family, enjoyed the sea and filled the hours after work with sport and friends.