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

The family of Elyakim Shlomo Libman, who was previously identified as 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; during the course of October 7, he rescued several people from the massacre before going back a final time and never returning.

It is unclear at this time how his body got to the grave.

The IDF confirmed the discovery saying that the IDF and the National Institute of Forensic Medicine had conducted an investigation into the grave.

היום (ו׳), הודיעו נציגי צה״ל והמכון הלאומי לרפואה משפטית, משרד הבריאות למשפחתו של אליקים ליבמן ז״ל, אשר הוגדר עד היום כחטוף, כי הוא נרצח במתקפת הטרור שהוביל ארגון הטרור חמאס ב-7 באוקטובר וגופתו נמצאה בשטח ישראל. קביעה זו מתבססת על ממצאים שאותרו, בעקבות עבודת חקירה ותהליך פענוח…

— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) May 3, 2024

The discovery of the body

His body was found in the grave of a woman murdered on October 7, who was buried in Gush Dan, and who was murdered together with Libman in the Reim parking lot.

At the beginning of the war, it was initially suspected that Libman was not a hostage after no indication of abduction was found.

After that, a body part of his was found in the area; this raised the possibility that he was not kidnapped but buried with another victim from the Nova party massacre.

ZAKA opened dozens of graves in the last few weeks until they found DNA from part of Libman’s mouth in a grave in the Gush Dan area.

This is a developing story.

JPost