Israeli army on Friday claimed that bodies of three Israeli hostages have been recovered including the body of German-Israeli Shani Louk. As per reports, they were were taken into Gaza and were killed on October 7 last year. 22-year-old Shani is known to the world as a photograph of his twisted body in the back of a pickup truck right after the October 7 attack shook the whole world.
According to the Israeli military, besides Shani Louk, the two other hostages have been identified as a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, Itzhak Gelerenter respectively.
Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said all three were killed by Hamas at the Nova music festival, an outdoor dance party near the Gaza border, and their bodies taken into the Palestinian territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking,” saying, “We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the dead.”
The military did not give immediate details on where their bodies were found. Israel has been operating in the strip’s southern city of Rafah, where it has said it has intelligence that hostages are being held.
Israel-Gaza conflict: The hostage situation
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the Oct. 7 attack.
Around half of those have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.
Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more. Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the attack has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
