The Israeli army announced on Friday 15 December the death of Elya Toledano, a young French-Israeli who was taken hostage on 7 October in Israel during the bloody Hamas attack and who had been held in the Gaza Strip ever since. The IDF recovered and brought back his remains.

There are now still three "missing" Franco-Israelis, probably hostages in the Palestinian territory.

Elya Toledano, whose smiling face was displayed on news websites and social networks on Friday, was kidnapped at the Tribe of Nova music festival in which he was attending with his friend Mia Shem, a French-Israeli woman who was also taken hostage and then released as part of a truce agreement at the end of November.

"During the operation in Gaza, the body of hostage Elya Toledano (28) was recovered by the army's special forces and repatriated to Israel," the IDF said in a statement, adding that forensic doctors had identified the body.

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"Deep sadness this morning to learn of his death in Gaza. I share his family's shock and sorrow. He was 28 years old," President Emmanuel Macron said Friday on social media X, vowing to "continue to work tirelessly to free all hostages" taken by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Our compatriot Elia Toledano was kidnapped on October 7 by Hamas. Deep sadness this morning to learn of his death in Gaza. I share his family's shock and sorrow.

He was 28 years old.

France continues to work tirelessly to free all hostages.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 15, 2023

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also told X of her "immense sorrow" at the news of his death.

Families of hostages had said in recent weeks that they did not know the fate of Elya Toledano, whether or not he was still alive.

His brother Daniel was in Paris to testify and meet with French authorities when he was informed of Elya's death Thursday night, according to the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). His parents in Israel had just been warned by the army. Daniel Toledano rushed back to Israel to attend the funeral scheduled for that day.

Three Frenchmen still missing

The Crif expressed its "immense sadness" on X. The weekly rally organized by this organization every Friday at the Trocadero to demand the release of the hostages was dedicated today to Elya Toledano. "Unfortunately, he is not coming back from Gaza alive," said CRIF president Jonathan Arfi.

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Elya Toledano, a 28-year-old French-Israeli hostage. He was one of the 4 remaining French hostages. We had met Daniel, his brother, who came to France to testify. He was there again yesterday, to call for... pic.twitter.com/6tCqu1H7SP

— CRIF (@Le_CRIF) December 15, 2023

"We know he was wounded, that he was beaten," said Olivier, a member of the French-Israeli Kalderon family, whose two teenagers, aged 12 and 16, Erez and Sahar, were released during the truce week between November 24 and December 1. The truce, brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, resulted in the release of 105 people, exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

A total of eight French-Israelis were listed as missing by French authorities after the October 7 attack. Four – Mia Shem, the Kalderon children and another 12-year-old minor, Eitan Yahalomi – were released. After the announcement of Elya Toledano's death, three people remain missing.

Israel has declared war on Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, in retaliation for the bloody attack on its soil on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement, which killed about 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Some 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza on the day of the attack, of whom about 135, according to the army, are still in the hands of Hamas and affiliated groups.

The retaliation by Israel, which has vowed to "annihilate" Hamas, has killed nearly 18,800 people, 70 percent of them women, children and teenagers, according to Hamas' health ministry.

The families of the hostages also said they were "shocked" this week by the announcement by the director of the Mossad – Israel's foreign intelligence service – of the refusal to conduct new negotiations to free them and demanded explanations from the authorities.

With AFP

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