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A year later: Hostage’s family told he was murdered on Oct. 7th

“We waited 12 months for nothing,” says murdered hostage’s father.

By World Israel News Staff

A young man kidnapped from the Nova Festival, who was presumed for the last year to be a living hostage, was murdered on October 7th, 2023 during the massacre. His body is still being held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas terror group, Hebrew-language media reported on Monday morning.

Idan Shtivi, 28, was initially reported missing following the festival. He had called his girlfriend around 7 A.M., telling her he was leaving the event due to rocket fire.

Investigators determined that while driving away from the festival, terrorists had sprayed a volley of bullets at Shtivi’s car. He apparently lost control of his vehicle, crashing and hitting a tree.

The bodies of two of Shtivi’s friends, who were shot to death, were discovered in his bullet-ridden vehicle several days later.

For several months, Shtivi’s fate was unknown, as Israeli forensic services struggled to identify dozens of victims from the festival who had been burned or mutilated beyond recognition.

In January 2024, Shtivi’s family was officially informed by the Israeli government that he was classified as a hostage. They were told had been kidnapped from southern Israel by terrorists during the Hamas onslaught and that he was taken back to the Gaza Strip.

Shtivi’s father, Eli, has emerged as one of the most prominent public faces representing the hostages’ families and their struggle for their loved ones’ release.

Along with freed hostage Noa Argamani and her father, Eli Shtivi accompanied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington D.C. for his July speech to Congress.

But exactly year after the bloodiest day in Israel’s history, the Israeli government informed the Shtivi family that their son was actually murdered on October 7th.

“We waited 12 months for nothing,” Eli Shtivi said in a brief statement to the media.

“We share in the family’s deep sorrow,” the Missing and Hostage Families Forum said in a statement.

“Idan Shtivi loved nature and photography. He was very attached to dogs and animals and was supposed to start his second year studying sustainability and governance at Reichman University. Idan always thought of others and sacrificed himself for the good of those around him.