Dragged into Gaza and executed in a hospital bed: How Hamas doctors gave up treating Israeli hostage who was then shot three times in the head - with body hidden inside Gaza tunnel wall

By FRANCINE WOLFISZ, NEWS REPORTER Published: 08:59, 19 July 2026 | Updated: 08:59, 19 July 2026 The sister of a murdered Hamas hostage has revealed how her brother was brutally shot in the chest before terrorists dragged him in a truck to Gaza - and barbarically executed him with their guns in a hospital bed.   Hanan Yablonka, 42, was then concealed inside a bag and hidden inside the walls of a Hamas tunnel in northern Gaza, alongside the bodies of several other hostages. His tragic fate remained unknown to his distraught family for almost eight months until a special Israeli military operation recovered the slain hostages and brought them home to their grieving families. Just hours before his death, Hanan had made the spontaneous decision to go to the Nova Festival in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, without telling his family or having the chance to say goodbye. Some 413 people were killed and 44 taken hostage to Gaza from the annual outdoor trance festival, as Hamas terrorists unleashed their savage assault in nearby Kibbutzim, including Be'eri, Kfar Aza and Nir Oz. A report published in May by The Civil Commission, an independent Israeli women's rights NGO formed in the wake of October 7, 2023, detailed how several men and women were also sexually abused, raped and mutilated. Grieving sister Avivit Yablonka Abady was one of a contingent of survivors, former hostages and their families who arrived in London this month for the opening of the Nova Exhibition, which featured an interactive timeline of events as they unfolded.  More than 40,000 people visited the exhibition, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and senior government figures Wes Streeting, David Lammy, and Angela Rayner.  Speaking on the penultimate day of the exhibition, which closed on Wednesday, Avivit detailed for the first time how she and her family were wrought with anguish during the many months Hanan was declared 'missing' - with authorities only able to confirm after 12 weeks that he had been taken into Gaza.  They would have to wait several months more however to discover he had been murdered. Hanan Yablonka, 42, was brutally shot on October 7, 2023, before terrorists dragged him to Gaza - and executed him in a hospital bed. His sister Avivit Yablonka Abady waited months for news of what had happened to him Hanan had made the spontaneous decision to go to the Nova Festival in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, without telling his family or having the chance to say goodbye One of the Hamas terror tunnels built through Gaza. Hanan's body was discovered hidden inside the walls of one by special IDF forces in May 2024 For mother-of-three Avivit, 51, who lives in Ramat Hasharon, it was nothing short of a 'big surprise' her brother had been anywhere near Nova on October 7 - because he had not told his sisters or parents before setting off in the night with friends.  'In fact, I never got to see him or say goodbye at all', said Avivit, regret clinging to her throat.  'On 6 October was a holiday in Israel, so my brother and my sister went to my parents' home for dinner, but I went to my friends that night. This dinner is the last time they saw him. Every day I think about this dinner - but of course, nobody knew what would happen the next day.' At 6.29am on October 7, 2023, the first missiles were spotted in the skies over Israel.  'We see rockets, but this time felt different, because there were so many of them. This is something that never happened before, so I drove to my parents' home so that we could be together. 'We watched the news. We started to cry as we saw what was happening and listened to people talking about what they had seen, what had happened to them. 'But we were not worried for my brother. We didn't know he was there at Nova. We thought he was with his friend Lior at his house.' But after hours of sending messages to check if Hanan was safe, the family's worst fears were confirmed - and they were told the two men had decided during the early hours of the morning to go to Nova, with a group of other friends joining them. 'I thought maybe this friend who told us had made a mistake, but when we finally understood Hanan had gone to Nova life changed forever,' she said. In the aftermath of the terror attack, the body of Hanan's friend, Israeli footballer Lior Asulin, 43, alongside the group of friends they had been with were found close to the Mefalsim Junction on Route 232 - around 12 miles away from the Nova festival site. Hanan's bullet-ridden car was found nearby, with his keys, phone and ID still inside the vehicle - but there was no trace at all of the divorced father of two.  It would take months of speaking to witnesses, poring over video footage and receiving information from authorities before the family could piece together what had happened to Hanan.  Avivit said: 'Hanan, his friend Leor, and two women fled towards his car and left the festival. But on the way, a car in front of them came across traffic and turned around - crashing into their car on the way. 'Hanan left his car to check on the other vehicle when he was suddenly shot by terrorists in the chest. He fell down onto the road. Hanan was badly injured and dying. Then the terrorists turned their guns on his friends and murdered all of them. 'They put Hanan on a truck and took him to a hospital inside Gaza. But when the doctors saw he was dying, they decided to shoot him - in his head, three times. 'They put him inside a bag and hid the body inside the walls of a tunnel in Jabalia.' Avivit pictured at a press conference in March 2024 in London before she discovered what had happened to Hanan Hanan was one of thousands of people shot by Hamas terrorists as they attempted to flee on the main road from the Nova Festival site on October 7, 2023 Hanan Yablonka was a keen music lover. He had never been to Nova before when he made the spontaneous decision to join friends and head over to the desert festival on October 7, 2023 Nine months later, IDF forces undertook a special operation on 24 May, 2024, in which they recovered the body of Hanan, alongside the remains of 59-year-old grandfather Michel Nisenbaum and Orion Hernandez, 32, the boyfriend of Shani Louk. 'It's a miracle they found him,' continues Avivit. 'The terrorists put the dead bodies inside bags, inside the walls. The army could have easily destroyed this tunnel without seeing him there - but thankfully they saw the bags, and they took them to Israel.' Tragically Hanan's remains had deteriorated to such an extent that authorities could only identify him by his teeth.   'I still can't believe this is what happened,' continued Avivit. 'And nearly three years on, only now my father understands Hanan is not coming back home. 'My brother was my little brother, he was so special. We were always together, we were best friends. I smile when I think of him. I smile and cry together.' At his funeral in May 2024, thousands turned out for a solidarity march for Hanan and the hostages who were yet to return, from his home in north Tel Aviv to the cemetery a mile away.  Tributes were read out for Hanan, who left behind two children aged 12 and 19.  His mother Vered poignantly said at the time: 'And I ask, how can I bid you farewell? In our worst dreams, we couldn’t imagine something like this.  'What I would give to hug you, to kiss you, breathe you.' Avivit said she still grieves for her brother every day, but she receives 'hope' in the presence of the former hostages and survivors.  'To be with them means I can feel my brother,' she said: 'They give me the hope, they give me life. I see how they smile, how they dance and I know what happened to them. They are strong so I must be too. 'They need us - and we need them. 'It was the best thing to see people finally came back home. Hanan lost his life but he came back home to us, the others came back. That is what makes me happy.'