JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk.
A photo of 22-year-old Shani’s twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought to light the scale of the attack on communities in southern Israel. The military identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, Itzhak Gelerenter.
All three were killed by Hamas at the Nova music festival, an outdoor dance party near the Gaza border, military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a news conference. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.
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 said the bodies were found overnight, without elaborating, and did not give immediate details on where they were located. Israel has been operating in the Gaza Strip’s southern city of Rafah, where it says it has intelligence that hostages are being held.