The Israeli Defense Forces announced on Friday (May 17th) that they have discovered the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed during an attack by Hamas on October 7th last year, including one victim of German descent.
According to reports by the Associated Press, the Israel military has confirmed the identities of the three deceased hostages as 56-year-old man Itzhak Gelerenter, 28-year-old woman Amit Buskila, and 22-year-old German-Israeli woman Shani Louk.
Images of Louk’s contorted body lying in the back seat of a pickup truck have circulated around the world.
Major General Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, stated during a press conference on Friday that these three individuals were killed by Hamas while trying to escape from a music festival in southern Israel on October 7th last year. Hamas militants stationed in the Gaza Strip killed hundreds of people at this outdoor event.
The Israeli military stated on Friday that the bodies were discovered the previous night, without providing detailed explanations or immediately revealing the specific location where the bodies were found.
In recent days, the Israeli military has been conducting operations in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza and claims to have received intelligence about the hostages being held there.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed that these deaths are “heartbreaking” and vowed to bring back all the hostages, both living and deceased.
Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in the attack on October 7th, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Approximately half of these hostages have been released, with the majority freed during a week-long ceasefire in November last year. In exchange, Israel also released a certain number of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel has stated that approximately 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with around 30 bodies remaining there. According to Gaza health officials, the conflict in Gaza has resulted in over 35,000 Palestinian deaths since Israel launched retaliatory attacks.
Netanyahu has vowed to both eliminate Hamas and rescue all hostages, but progress has been minimal. He faces pressure to resign, and the United States has threatened to reduce support for Israel due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
There are two main camps among the Israeli people: one advocating for the government to hold off on the war and release hostages, while the other sees the hostages as an unfortunate price paid to eradicate Hamas.
Negotiations mediated by Qatar, the United States, and Egypt have been intermittent and largely ineffective.