The bodies of three hostages kidnapped by Hamas, including the German-Israeli Shani Louk, have been retrieved from Gaza by the Israeli military, it announced.
The other two hostages were identified as Amit Buskila, 28, and Itzhak Gelerenter, 56, according to the military spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, who said the three victims were taken to Gaza after being killed by Hamas at the Nova music festival.
Footage of what appeared to be the body of Louk, 22, on the back of a pickup truck on the streets of Gaza was one of the first images to surface after 7 October, as the scale of the horror of the attacks became clear.
The young woman was initially believed to have been kidnapped alive during Hamas’s assault in Re’im. However, on 30 October, Louk’s sister Adi confirmed Shani had died, probably during the attack, after the discovery of human remains that suggested fatal injuries.
The Israeli military did not give immediate details on where the bodies were found.
Louk’s father, Nissim, said: “The news is hard, no father thought that a 22-year-old girl would disappear from her life, but we knew she was murdered and we waited for our dear soldiers who were looking for her to find her.”
Buskila was a fashion stylist. She was kidnapped from the Nova music festival as she was trying to hide between cars. When she was captured, she was on the phone with her uncle, who heard her pleading with her attackers. She told him: “I love you”, before a series of gunshots interrupted the phone call.
Gelerenter reached the party just a couple of hours before the attack began at about 6.30am on 7 October with two friends, who were killed. A few days later, the family was notified by the IDF that his phone was located in Gaza, leading the military to believe he was taken hostage.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, released a statement on X saying: “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. 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,” he said.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, established by the families of the hostages, said in a statement they “bow their heads in deep sorrow and with broken hearts. May their memories be a blessing.”
Last week, Hamas said in a statement that the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell had died of wounds he sustained in an Israeli airstrike more than a month ago.
A video previously released by Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, showed Popplewell displaying visible signs of physical abuse. Hamas provided no evidence for the claim.
Popplewell and his mother, Channah Peri, 79, were abducted on 7 October from their residence in Nirim kibbutz, while his older brother, Roi, died in the assault. Peri was freed on 24 November.
About half of the approximately 250 people who were abducted on 7 October have since been freed, most in swaps for Israel-held Palestinian prisoners during a week-long ceasefire in November. According to Israeli authorities, 129 people remain in captivity and about 30 are confirmed dead.
Last week, Israeli officials told the Ynet news site that hostage and ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas had not completely broken down. Indirect talks would resume “if there are answers from Hamas that we can work with”, the officials said.
Hamas said efforts to find a deal on a truce were back at square one after Israel rejected a plan from international mediators, while the White House expressed its commitment to trying to keep the sides engaged “if only virtually”.
