Clockwise: Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov and Almog Meir Jan. Photo: Courtesy

i24 News – The father of rescued hostage Almog Meir-Jan died overnight between Thursday and Friday, mere hours before news could reach him that his son had been freed from captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Yossi Meir, who was ill, was found dead in his home in Kfar Saba. He lived alone. His funeral is set to take place at 5:30 pm in Kfar Saba. The family requested the funeral be closed.

Shortly after he met his family and friends for the first time in more than eight months, Meir-Jan was told his father had died.

Meir-Jan was kidnapped along with more than 200 Israelis on October 7 when thousands of Gazan terrorists crossed into Israel and killed more than a thousand. He was taken along with scores of other from the Nova music festival in Re’im.

Israeli forces rescued him along with Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov on Saturday morning. All of them had been captured during the Nova festival.

Argamani, whose mother is currently in the hospital for cancer treatment, met her mother Saturday afternoon after her rescue. Her mother, Liora, publicly called for Argamani’s release to be reunited with her as she faces her terminal illness over the eight months since October 7.