Israel’s military announced in the early hours of Friday morning that they had found the body of one of the hostages being held by Hamas and are bringing him home to Israel.
Elia Toledano, 28, was snatched from the Supernova music festival on October 7, and taken across the border with his friend Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist.
Schem spent 54 days in captivity, forced by Hamas to appear in a propaganda video demanding her release and saying she was being well treated. She was released on November 30.
Toledano’s death was announced by the IDF.
Elia Toldeano, 28, died in Hamas captivity in Gaza, the IDF has announced
Toledano, 28, was snatched from the Supernova music festival on October 7, and taken across the border with his friend Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist
‘The body of 28-year-old Elia Toledano who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, has been recovered by our Special Forces in an operation in Gaza and brought back to Israel,’ they wrote on X.
‘The IDF sends the family its heartfelt condolences.
‘Our national mission is to locate the hostages and return all of them home. We are working together with security agencies, and with all intelligence and operational means in order to return all of the hostages home.’
The IDF did not say how he died, or when.
Toledano’s body is the sixth to be recovered by the IDF. He is the 20th hostage who the IDF confirms has died in Gaza.
Toledano was one of 36 people taken hostage at the music festival. A further 200 were taken from kibbutzim in the surrounding area.
Of the 240 taken, 105 were released during a truce from November 24 to December 1.
Four hostages were released prior to the temporary truce and hostage release in late November, and one was rescued by troops.
It is believed that 134 hostages remain in Gaza — not all of them alive.
Toledano was last seen in the early hours of October 7 with his friend Schem at the Supernova festival.
Revelers flee as Hamas attacks the October 7 festival in the desert
Hamas are seen kidnapping an Israeli man, Avinatan Or, from the Supernova festival
The 21-year-old is a French and Israeli citizen and was described by her mother as ‘creative’ and ‘mature’. Pictured in a TikTok video
Schem is seen at the Supernova festival: she was kidnapped from the festival with Toledano on October 7
Schem, 21, reunites with her family following her release after being held hostage by Hamas
Mia is seen walking with family members on December 1 at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel
Schem, 21, reunites with her mother and brother following her release on November 30
Schem is seen being released to the Red Cross as a crowd of Palestinians watch
Schem, 21, became one of the most high-profile captees after Hamas released a video in the early days of 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 that she is studying tattooing, works at a tattoo parlor and enjoys drawing and cooking
Heart-rending footage showed her breaking down into tears as she hugged her mother and brother, knowing her ordeal was at an end
Schem was shot in the arm during the attack, and following her release, her aunt said that while in captivity she had been operated on by a Palestinian veterinarian.
Hamas released a video in the early days of the war showing her recovering from surgery.
‘Hi, I’m Mia Schem, 21 years old from Shoham. Currently, I’m in Gaza,’ she said in the video, which many media networks refused to air.
‘I was seriously injured in my hand. I underwent surgery on my arm at the hospital for 3 hours. They are taking care of me, giving me medicine, everything is fine.’
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum describes Schem as ‘a young woman with an old soul’ who was studying tattooing and worked at a tattoo parlor prior to her kidnapping.