The bodies of three hostages taken in the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 have been recovered in Israel’s southern city of Rafah. GazaAn Israeli military spokesman said this on Friday.
The Israeli army has recovered the bodies of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli; Amit Buskila, 28; and Itshak Gelernter, 56, Admiral Daniel Hagari said. Israel says it believes all three were killed by Hamas while escaping the Nova music festival on October 7 and that their bodies were taken to Gaza.
A photo of Louk’s contorted body in the back of a pickup truck was seen around the world and revealed the scale of the attack on the music festival in the southern Israeli desert, near the border with the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking” and said: “We will return all our hostages, both the living and the dead.”
The military gave no immediate details about where their bodies were found, but said it was the result of intelligence gathered. Israel has been active in Rafahwhere it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.
“The return of their bodies is a painful and stark reminder that we must quickly return all our brothers and sisters from their cruel captivity – the living to rehabilitation, and the murdered to a proper burial,” the Hostages Families Forum headquarters said in a statement. rack.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 others in the Oct. 7 attack. About half of them have since been released, most in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
Israel says about 100 hostages are still trapped in Gaza, along with the bodies of about 30 others. Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians since the attack, according to Gaza health officials.
This is a development story. Check back for updates.
