The father of Almog Meir Jan, one of the four hostages rescued from Hamas captivity, was found dead in his home on Saturday, according to Israeli media reports on Saturday night.
According to the reports, Meir’s father, Yossi Meir, was previously ill and lived alone in Kfar Saba. The released captive was from Or Yehuda and lived separately from his father before his capture.
According to some reports, he was found unconscious in his home by IDF officials who had come to announce the news of his son’s rescue during the Saturday IDF operation.
Other reports noted he was found by family members who came
Though he was ill, family members told Israeli media that they believe he died from grief.
“The night before Almog’s return [to my brother], his heart stopped. He didn’t get to see him,” Yossi’s sister Dina told KAN Bet.
“On Friday, I came to Yossi to give him a chalot to sit and I didn’t know what was behind the door. Yossi loved Almog with all his heart and was tormented day after day. His heart could not stand it and tragically 20 hours before the happiness that awaited him, it went quiet,” Rabbi Lior Engelman, a close friend of Yossi Meir told Israeli media.
Yossi Meir’s final days were filled with grief
Rabbi Engelman added that “Yossi was a man whose life was not easy along the way, and the grief over Almog gnawed at him every day.”
Yossi’s sister Dina added in an interview with KAN Bet on Saturday night that their father was “glued to the television, clinging to every piece of information… he wanted to know everything that was happening to him and what he was going through.”
Kfar Saba Municipality Council’s Hadar Lavi expressed that she hoped the late Yossi Meir could feel the embrace of his community in a difficult time. “In the sequence of our enormous tragedies in recent months, yesterday, we had real moments of happiness, but we continue to pay the price. My condolences to the family that you will never know any more sorrow.”
Almog reunited with his family at Tel Hashomer Hospital after 246 days in captivity and arrived via helicopter.
The released captive said that he was shown footage of demonstrations calling for the release of the hostages, and was able to recognize his own photo. Israeli media reported that he told his family that he recalled seeing his own photos at the protests and had kept a diary from his time held by Hamas, helping him keep count of the days he was held.
Keshet Neev contributed to this report.
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