The Israeli army announced in the early hours of Friday morning that they had found the body of one of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and were 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 girlfriend Mia Schem, a 21-year-old French-Israeli tattoo artist.
Schem spent 54 days in captivity, where he was forced by Hamas to appear in a propaganda video demanding her release and saying she was being treated well. 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
“The body of 28-year-old Elia Toledano, who was 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 sincere condolences to the family.
“Our national mission is to locate the hostages and return them all home. We are working with security services and all intelligence and operational resources to bring all hostages home.”
The IDF did not say how he died or when.
Toledano's body is the sixth recovered by the IDF: he is the twentieth hostage the IDF says has been killed in Gaza.
He was one of 36 people taken hostage during the music festival. Another 200 were brought from kibbutzim in the area.
Of the 240 prisoners, 105 were released during a ceasefire from November 24 to December 1.
Four hostages were released ahead of the temporary ceasefire and hostage release in late November, and one was rescued by troops.
It is believed that 134 hostages remain in Gaza – not all 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 is seen kidnapping an Israeli man, Avinatan Or, from the Supernova festival
The 21-year-old was shot at and kidnapped from the Supernova Festival near the Gaza-Israel border.
The 21-year-old has French and Israeli nationality 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 along with Toledano on October 7
Schem, 21, reunites with her family after her release from being held hostage by Hamas
Mia is seen with family members at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel on December 1
Mia Schem, 21, will be reunited with her mother and brother after her release on November 30
Mia Schem is released to the Red Cross as a crowd of Palestinians watch
Schem, 21, became one of the most high-profile prisoners after Hamas released a video showing her recovering from surgery in the early days of the war
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 breaking down in 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 she was operated on in captivity by a Palestinian veterinarian.
Hamas released a video in the early days of the war showing her recovering from an operation.
'Hello, I'm Mia Schem, 21 years old from Shoham. Currently I am in Gaza,” she said in the video, which many media networks refused to broadcast.
'I seriously injured my hand. I had surgery on my arm in the hospital for 3 hours. 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 at a tattoo parlor before her kidnapping.