IDF retrieves bodies of Hamas hostages from Gaza

The military said that an "identification procedure" had been carried out by medical officials, military rabbis and forensic experts.

DECEMBER 15, 2023 06:32

Updated: DECEMBER 15, 2023 12:49

Israeli hostages Nik Beizer, Ron Sherman, Elia Toledano, whose bodies were brought back to Israel, December 15, 2023. (illustration) (photo credit: Hostage and Missing Families Forum) — Israeli hostages Nik Beizer, Ron Sherman, Elia Toledano, whose bodies were brought back to Israel, December 15, 2023. (illustration)

(photo credit: Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

Israeli special forces have recovered the body of 28-year-old hostage Elia Toledano, who was held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas since its Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, the military said in a statement on Friday. Later on Friday morning, the IDF announced that it had retrieved the bodies of Corp. Nik Beizer and Sgt. Ron Sherman.

The IDF said that an "identification procedure" had been carried out by medical officials, military rabbis and forensic experts.

Soldiers from the 551st Brigade and Unit 504 in the Intelligence Division, under the command of Division 162 helped rescue the bodies from Hamas captivity, the IDF announced on Friday morning.

Hamas hostage Elia Toledano, whose body was brought back to Israel, December 15, 2023 (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)

Kidnapped at Re'im music festival

Toledano was taken by Hamas from the Re'im music festival that turned into a massacre, Israeli media reported.

He was kidnapped alongside his girlfriend Mia Schem, who was released from captivity last month as part of the hostage-prisoner deal between Israel and Hamas.

Kidnapped while serving near Gaza border

Beizer, from Beersheba, was kidnapped while serving as a driver at the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration. Sherman, from Lehavim, was kidnapped while serving as a coordination and liaison officer at the Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration.

More than 130 hostages remain in Gaza. Some have been declared dead in absentia by Israeli authorities.