Body of slain hostage Idan Shtivi recovered from Gaza

The IDF and the Shin Bet recovered the body of Idan Shtivi during an operation in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces.

On Friday, the IDF announced it had recovered the bodies of slain hostage Ilan Weiss and of a second hostage, whom it did not identify at the time.

Shtivi, now confirmed as the second slain hostage whose body was recovered in the operation, was killed at the Nova music festival during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.

Shtivi, 28, was a nature lover and photography enthusiast who was studying sustainability and government at Herzliya’s Reichman University

His body was identified at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine.

In a statement, Netanyahu calls Shtivi “a man of great courage and heart.”

“On October 7, 2023, he took part in the Nova music festival, and when the terrorist attack began, he acted to rescue and save many participants at the party,” says Netanyahu.

He was seized by Hamas terrorists at the desert rave, where he had volunteered to photograph the event.

He joined the party at 6 a.m. — just half an hour before the attack started — and called his girlfriend at 7, telling her about the missiles overhead and that he was leaving.

Shtivi left in his car with two friends, Lior and Yulia, but was blocked by the terrorists on the road heading north. He then turned the car around and started driving south, but was driven off the road, lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree.

He was last seen in that location, and the car was later found full of bullet holes and blood. His friends’ bodies were found at the scene.

In a separate statement, Defense Minister Israel Katz sends his “deepest condolences” to Shtivi’s family, and praises his bravery.

Netanyahu and Katz both promise to bring back the remaining 48 hostages. Twenty of them are believed to be alive, there are grave concerns for two others, and the other 26 have been confirmed as dead.