Body of 28-year-old hostage recovered in Gaza, Israel says
The body of a 28-year-old Israeli man who was kidnapped by Hamas militants during its Oct. 7 terror attack was recovered by Israeli soldiers in Gaza, Israeli authorities announced early Friday.
Israel Defense Forces reported on social media that the body of Elia Toledano was recovered by Israeli special forces and returned to Israel, where he was positively identified.
No further details were immediately provided on where and how Toledano's body was located.
According to the Times of Israel, on Oct. 7, Toledano was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival in the southern Israeli desert — along with his friend, 21-year-old Mia Schem, and dozens of others — during Hamas' bloody and violent assault that left at least 1,200 people dead.
Israeli officials have said at least 260 people attending the Supernova festival were killed in the massacre.
Schem, a French-Israeli woman, was one of more than 100 Hamas-held hostages who were freed during the seven-day cease-fire as part of a deal that also saw Israel release several hundred Palestinians jailed in Israel.
Prior to her release, Schem had appeared in a distressing propaganda video released by Hamas in which her right arm seemed to be injured. Her mother, Karen Schem, told CBS News at the time that "it's very hard to see my daughter, I see the pain, I see that she's in physical pain."
On Tuesday, the IDF said it recovered the bodies of two more hostages in Gaza, Eden Zakaria, 27, and Ziv Dado, 36.
Earlier this month, the Israeli government said there were an estimated 137 hostages still being held by Hamas.
— Holly Williams and Tucker Reals contributed to this report.