- Elia Toledano, 28, was at the Supernova music festival in Israel on October 7 when Hamas terrorists kidnapped him and took him to Gaza
- The IDF now announced that it had found Toledano's body in Gaza and would return him to Israel
- Toledano's girlfriend Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist, spent 54 days in Hamas captivity and was released on November 30
The Israeli military announced in the early hours of Friday that it had found the body of one of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and was returning him to Israel.
Elia Toledano, 28, was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7 and brought across the border with his girlfriend Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist.
Shem spent 54 days in captivity and was forced by Hamas to appear in a propaganda video calling for her release and saying she was being treated well. She was released on November 30th.
Toledano's death was announced by the IDF.
Elia Toldeano, 28, died in Hamas captivity in Gaza, the IDF announced
“The body of 28-year-old Elia Toledano, taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, was recovered by our special forces during an operation in Gaza and returned to Israel,” they wrote on X.
“The IDF extends its deepest condolences to the family.”
“Our national mission is to locate the hostages and return them all home.” “We are working with security authorities and all intelligence and operational resources to return all hostages home.”
The IDF did not say how or when he died.
Toledano's body is the sixth recovered by the IDF: he is the 20th hostage the IDF confirms has died in Gaza.
He was one of 36 people taken hostage at the music festival. Another 200 were kidnapped from kibbutzim in the area.
Of the 240 prisoners, 105 were released during a ceasefire from November 24th to December 1st.
Four hostages were released before the temporary ceasefire and hostage release in late November, and one was rescued by troops.
It is believed that there are still 134 hostages in Gaza – not all of them are alive.
Toledano was last seen in the early hours of October 7th with his friend Schem at the Supernova Festival.
21-year-old Shem reunites with her family after being released after being taken hostage by Hamas
Mia is seen walking with family members at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel on December 1st
Mia Schem, 21, reunites with her mother and brother after her release on November 30th
Mia Schem is seen being handed over to the Red Cross as a crowd of Palestinians looks on
Shem, 21, became one of the most high-profile prisoners after Hamas released a video early in the war showing her recovering from surgery
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum describes Schem as “a young woman with an old soul” and says she studies tattooing, works in a tattoo parlor and enjoys drawing and cooking
Heartbreaking footage showed her bursting into tears as she hugged her mother and brother, knowing her ordeal was over
Schem was shot in the arm during the attack and after her release, her aunt said that she had been operated on by a Palestinian veterinarian while in captivity.
Hamas released a video showing itself recovering from surgery in the early days of the war.
“Hello, I'm Mia Schem, 21 years old and I come from Shoham. “Currently I am in Gaza,” she said in the video, which many media networks refused to air.
“I was seriously injured in the hand. I underwent three hours of arm surgery in the hospital. They take care of me, give me medicine, everything is fine.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum describes Schem as “a young woman with an old soul” who studied tattooing and worked in a tattoo parlor before her abduction.