Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages who were taken captive as they fled a music festival during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, the Israeli military announced on Friday.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, identified the bodies as those of Amit Buskila, Shani Louk, and Yitzhak Gelernter. He said Israeli troops had recovered the bodies during an operation in Gaza on Thursday night, but did not say where they were found.
All three had attended the Tribe of Nova trance music festival on Oct. 7, where at least 360 people were killed, Admiral Hagari said. During the attack, they fled the festival and headed toward Mefalsim, a kibbutz in southern Israel. Palestinian militants found them there, killed them and brought their corpses back to Gaza, Admiral Hagari said.
Roughly 125 living and dead hostages abducted on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, including several U.S. citizens, according to the Israeli authorities. Israel and Hamas have held indirect negotiations in an attempt to reach a deal that would free at least some hostages in exchange for a cease-fire.
A woman signing a memorial banner this week for hostages kidnapped during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack.Credit…Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Ms. Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli citizen, became a symbol of the brutality of the devastating attack. Shortly after Oct. 7, Hamas released a video of a woman lying face down, mostly naked, in the back of a pickup truck in Gaza. Based on the dreadlocks and tattoos, Ms. Louk’s mother said she believed it was her daughter.
In late October, Ms. Louk’s family said the Israeli authorities had confirmed she had been killed. Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, publicly mourned her death, saying at the time that it “shows the full barbarity behind the Hamas attack — who must be held accountable.”
Ms. Buskila, 27, called her family on the morning of the attack, whispering to them that she was “surrounded by terrorists,” her uncle, Shimon Atiyas, told Israeli television in late October. “She told me: ‘Shimon, I’m dying, I love you.’ After that, we didn’t get any information about her fate.”
Mr. Gelernter, who went by the nickname Itzik, was a resident of central Israel in his 50s. His son, Asaf, described him in an interview with Israeli news media in February as a devoted father and grandfather who was widely beloved. “He was young at heart,” Asaf Gelernter said. He added, “He enjoyed life, he loved life.”
In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel mourned the “terrible loss” of the three hostages. “We will return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased alike,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
For months, Israel and Hamas have been negotiating indirectly through mediators over a cease-fire deal that would secure the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. In late November, 105 hostages were freed during a…
2024-05-17 12:48:00
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