The bodies of three hostages who were taken in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in Israel have been recovered in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of Shani Louk, a 22-year-old German-Israeli; Amit Buskila, 28; and Itshak Gelernter, 56, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said. Israel believes that Hamas murdered all three individuals while they were evading the Nova music festival on October 7, and their bodies were subsequently transported to Gaza.
The magnitude of the assault on the music festival in the southern Israeli desert, which is in close proximity to the Gaza Strip, was underscored by a photograph of Louk’s twisted corpse in the back of a pickup truck that was widely viewed around the world.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, described the deaths as “heartbreaking” and declared, “We will return all of our hostages, both the living and the deceased.”
The military did not provide immediate information regarding the location of their carcasses; however, they stated that it was the outcome of intelligence gathering. Israel has been operating in Rafah, where it has said it has intelligence that hostages are being held.
In a statement, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters stated, “The return of their bodies is a painful and stark reminder that we must promptly bring back all our brothers and sisters from their cruel captivity—the living to rehabilitation, and the murdered to a proper burial.”
In the Oct. 7 attack, militants commanded by Hamas killed approximately 1,200 individuals, the majority of whom were civilians, and abducted approximately 250 others. Approximately half of those individuals have since been released, with the majority being exchanged for Palestinian detainees that Israel had detained during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
Israel claims that approximately 100 detainees remain in captivity in Gaza, in addition to the remains of approximately 30 additional individuals. Gaza health officials have reported that Israel’s campaign in Gaza since the attack has resulted in the deaths of over 35,000 Palestinians.
At least 20 American physicians are currently confined within Gaza due to the closure of all crossings.
“It has been extremely challenging to separate from my wife, my two children, and my extended family.” It was something that I had to do,” Dr. Mohammed Abdelfattah, from California, told CBS News this week. “I was under the impression that the endeavors at home were in vain; they were being ignored.”
Meanwhile, trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built temporary U.S. floating pier into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday. This is the initial shipment of an operation that American military officials expect to expand to include the entry of 150 truckloads per day into the Gaza Strip. In a statement, the U.S. military’s Central Command acknowledged the aid movement, stating that first aid entered Gaza at 9 a.m. It was stated that no American forces were deployed to the shore during the operation.
President Joe Biden has become increasingly critical of how Netanyahu has carried out the war and Gaza, going so far as to pause shipments of some weapons to Israel because of concerns about the IDF’s plans in Rafah.
A U.S. State Department report said last week that it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel has used American arms in ways inconsistent with standards on humanitarian rights but that the United States could not reach “conclusive findings.”
