Dozens help in successful search for war widow's ring

Fallen soldier's wedding band successfully found on Israeli beach

A relieved October 2023 war widow, Gal Moreno, has thanked the dozens of volunteers who came to help her find her late husband’s wedding ring, after she lost it on Delilah beach in Ashkelon.

Itay Moreno, 24, a master sergeant in a reservist commando unit, was killed fighting terrorists on October 11, just four days after Hamas terrorists broke into southern Israel. Since his death, Gal told Ynet, “I’ve been wearing his ring around my neck”.

But, she said: “One moment it was on my neck — I saw it in a picture I took — and suddenly it fell off. I hope and pray that they find it. I won’t stop looking and hoping. We have a wonderful and amazing nation; a lot of people mobilised to help me”. She put out a plea on social media for people to help her find the ring — and there was an instant response.

The Israel Antiquities Authority was working on an excavation near the Ashkelon beach where Gal Moreno lost the ring. Eli Escusido, the IAA director, authorised licenced metal detectorists to scour the beach for the missing ring, and also allowed volunteers to expand their search into the area under the IAA jurisdiction.

On Sunday afternoon Itay Moreno’s wedding ring was found, and his young widow paid grateful tribute to everyone who came to help.