By Pesach Benson, JNS
Israel Defense Forces soldiers have recovered the body of hostage Elia Toledano, the IDF announced on Friday morning.
The body of the 28-year-old Toledano was identified by medical and rabbinical officials as well as the Israel Police.
The IDF did not indicate how or when he died.
Hours later, the military announced that forces operating in Gaza retrieved the bodies of two more Israeli hostages: Cpl. Nik Beizer, 19, and Sgt. Ron Sherman, 19.
Toledano was taken captive at the Supernova music festival at Kibbutz Reim. More than 360 people were massacred at the outdoor event and another 40 were taken hostage.
Beizer and Sherman were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during assaults on their bases near Gaza border.
“Our national mission is to locate the missing and return all the hostages home. We are working together with security agencies, and with all intelligence and operational means to return the captives,” said the IDF.
On Wednesday, authorities confirmed that an Israeli and a Tanzanian taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 died in captivity in Gaza.
Tal Chaimi, 41, was a third-generation member of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. The father of three, a dual Israeli-Romanian citizen, he was a member of the kibbutz’s security team. It was thought that he had been taken alive to Gaza, but new evidence indicates Chaimi was killed and his body taken to the Strip.
Joshua Mollel, a 21-year-old agricultural intern from Tanzania, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. He was murdered in captivity.
At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children, soldiers and foreigners held captive in Gaza is now believed to be 138. Other people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.