JERUSALEM - The remains of Eliakim Libman, who was thought to have been taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct 7 attack, have been found in Israel, the army and his family said on May 3.

Libman, a 24-year-old who was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival in southern Israel when the Palestinian militants carried out their unprecedented attack, “was murdered in the October 7 massacre”, the army said, in a statement.

Libman, who until May 3 had been counted among the around 250 people taken captive during the attack, was “found in Israeli territory”, it said.

When contacted by AFP, the army declined to provide further details about where and how his body was found.

But it said Libman had been identified “based on field evidence, following a thorough and complex investigation conducted by the IDF (army), Israel Police and the National Institute of Forensic Medicine”.

According to Israeli media reports, his remains were discovered buried by mistake alongside another victim from the Nova music festival.

His family issued a distraught statement after being informed of the news.

“After more than 200 days and nights of searches, worries, prayers and tears of tens of thousands of people of Israel, we were informed with great sadness that our dear and beloved son... is no longer among the living,” the statement said.

The family said Libman had been killed at the site of the music festival after staying “for hours to take care of the many wounded”.

The news of his death came after it emerged that another man thought to be a hostage in Gaza, Dror Or, 49, had also died during the Oct 7 attack.

Or was killed and his body held in the Palestinian territory since Oct 7, the Beeri kibbutz where he had lived said.

Israel estimates that 128 captives seized during the attack remain in Gaza. The military says 35 of them are dead, including Or.

During a week-long truce in November, militants released 105 hostages, the 80 Israelis among them in exchange for 240 Palestinians held by Israel.

The Oct 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,622 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. AFP