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Published on December 15, 2023
Updated December 15, 2023, 4:33 a.m. ET
The body of a 28-year-old festival-goer who was kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 rave massacre was recovered in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, weeks after his girlfriend Mia Schem was released in a hostage swap.
Elia Toledano, who had dual French-Israeli citizenship, was attending the Nova music festival in the southern Israeli desert when he was arrested, according to the Times of Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said Toledano's body was found during operations in the Gaza Strip and would be returned to Israel, where an “identification process” was carried out by medical officials, military rabbis and forensic experts.
“The IDF extends its deepest condolences to the family,” the IDF wrote in one post on X
Following the tragic finding, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said the nation was in “great sadness” at the news of Toledano's death.
“We share the pain of his family and loved ones. “The release of all hostages is our priority,” Colonna said said on X.
Israeli forces have recovered the body of hostage Elia Toledan. Handout for the family
Toledano was taken hostage along with Schem during the festival, the outlet added.
The two friends were last seen in the early hours of October 7 before chaos broke out and were among 36 people taken hostage at the music festival.
Schem, a 21-year-old Israeli-French tattoo artist, was seen in a chilling video released by Hamas being treated by a veterinarian for a wound on her right arm shortly after the war broke out.
She was released on November 30 during the seven-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after spending nearly 50 days in captivity.
Since then, upon her return from captivity, she has had a tattoo on her left forearm that reads “We will dance again” over “7.10.23” to commemorate the victims of the festival.
“I will never forget October 7, 2023,” Schem wrote in the post last week. “The pain and the fear, the difficult sights, the friends who don't come back and the ones we have to bring back. But we will win, we will dance!”
Toledano was taken hostage by the Supernova music festival. @IDF/X
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At least 260 people were mercilessly killed during the Supernova festival massacre, while Hama terrorists killed at least 1,200 people in the Saturday morning attack on Israel in October.
The temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that allowed Shem's release ended earlier this month after the Jewish nation accused the terrorist organizations of violating the ceasefire by firing rockets into Israeli territory before the deal expired.
In addition to Toledano, the Israeli military also recovered the bodies of two soldiers who were also kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
Moshe Sebbag (CR), Chief Rabbi of the Great Synagogue of Paris, greets Daniel Toledano (CL), brother of hostage Elia Toledano, as he attends a vigil with relatives of Israeli hostages held since the October 7 Hamas attacks . CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Twitter video shows attendees of the Tribe of Nova music festival show fleeing a terrorist attack during a Hamas raid on Saturday, October 7, 2023, in southern Israel.
“The bodies of hostages CPL Nik Beizer (19) and SGT Ron Sherman (19), who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, were recovered from Gaza during operational activities and returned to Israeli territory,” the IDF wrote in a report post on Friday.
The IDF remains committed to rescuing all hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
More than 130 hostages remain in the Gaza Strip.
“Our national mission is to locate the hostages and return them all home,” the branch wrote Thursday. “We are working with security authorities and all intelligence and operational resources to return all hostages home.”
with post wires
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