Body of previously classified hostage, Elyakim Libman, discovered in grave of October 7 victim

Elyakim Libman was a security guard at the Nova Music Festival; during the course of October 7, he rescued several people from the massacre before going back a final time and never returning.

 Elyakim Shlomo Libman (photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)
Elyakim Shlomo Libman
(photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)

The family of Elyakim Shlomo Libman, who was previously believed to be a hostage, announced on Friday that his body was found in the grave of a woman murdered on October 7.

Libman was a security guard at the Nova music festival. On October 7, he rescued several people from the massacre before going back one, final time and never returning.

It is still unclear why his body was in another person’s grave.

The army confirmed the discovery, saying that the IDF and the National Institute of Forensic Medicine had conducted an investigation into the grave, which was in Gush Dan.

The discovery of the body

Libman and the woman he was buried with were murdered on October 7 in Re’im’s parking lot.

Some initial estimates were that Libman was not taken captive since there were no forensic indications that he had been abducted.

At one point, however, one of Libman’s body parts was found, raising the possibility that he was buried with another victim from the Nova massacre.

ZAKA opened dozens of graves in the last few weeks until they found evidence of Libman’s DNA in a grave in the Gush Dan area.
The update came a few hours after Kibbutz Be’eri announced that Dror Or was murdered on October 7 and his body was taken by Hamas to Gaza.

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Or’s wife, Yonat, was murdered on October 7 as well, and their children, Noam and Alma, were kidnapped then released in the ceasefire deal in November. Their eldest son, Yahli, was in the North at the time and so he was saved.
A committee of experts met on Thursday and, together with representatives of the Health Ministry, intelligence officials, Israel Police, the Religious Services Ministry, and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, determined that the evidence showed that Or was murdered.

 ZAKA PERSONNEL clean blood stains left from the October 7 massacre, in Kibbutz Be'eri, on December 19, 2023. (credit: CHEN SCHIMMEL/FLASH90)
ZAKA PERSONNEL clean blood stains left from the October 7 massacre, in Kibbutz Be'eri, on December 19, 2023. (credit: CHEN SCHIMMEL/FLASH90)
“Together with the Be’eri community, we all the while wished and held onto the hope that Dror would return alive from captivity to the arms of his children, parents, brother, and sister. Unfortunately, a committee of experts that met today determined, based on the findings presented to it, that Dror is not among the living,” the Eshkol Regional Council said in a statement.
“We are deeply saddened by his death and share in the Or family’s and Be’eri community’s deep sorrow, and [we are] calling and crying out for his return and the return of all the other hostages, the living and the dead, now.”
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum expressed their condolences to Or’s family, adding that they would continue to accompany and support the family until Or’s body was returned to Israel.
“Only the return of all the hostages, the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial, will allow a revival and a future for the State of Israel,” said the Forum. “The Israeli government must do everything so that Dror and the other 37 murdered hostages receive their last respects and burial in Israel before Remembrance Day.”