Israeli army recovers bodies of three hostages taken to Gaza following October 7 attack
The bodies of three hostages snatched during Hamas’ atrocious October 7 attack have been recovered by Israel Defence Forces in Gaza.
Shani Louk, 23, Amit Buskila, 28, and Itzhak Gelerenter, 57, were identified as the three people killed at the Nova music festival.
The remains were found in a Hamas tunnel in Gaza.
Louk, Buskila, and Gelerenter were killed as Hamas terrorists slaughtered 360 people at the festival.
A total of 1,200 people were killed during the October 7 attack, with 252 more also taken hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement vowing to return hostages from Gaza.
He said: “The heart breaks for such a big loss. My wife Sarah and I are hurting with the families.
“All our hearts are with them at their time of heavy grief.”
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Netanyahu added: “We will return all of our hostages, living and dead. I congratulate our brave forces that in a determined action returned Israel’s sons and daughters home.”
Louk’s father Nissim separately said the return of her body provided the family with closure.
He said: “The tormented soul knows that there is a hole in the heart somewhere in Gaza. Today we got a final answer.”
Louk added: “She is a symbol of the people of Israel, between light and darkness.
“Her inner and outer beauty that shone for all the world to see is a special one.”
The latest announcement about bodies being recovered comes just hours after former hostage Shoshan Haran recalled the effects of 50 days in captivity on her three-year-old granddaughter.
She told the United Nations: “Three weeks after we were released, Yahel only whispers, too afraid to make a noise.
“She hid from everyone, too afraid to go outside. She wet the bed and had nightmares, too afraid she may be captured again.”
Haran, now 68, added: “We cannot allow the normalization of this unprecedented form of terrorism – mass hostage-taking of unarmed civilians, women, children, elderly.
“What you see as our problem today might become a worldwide problem to each and every country in the near future.”