The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Friday that it had recovered the bodies of three hostages taken to Gaza on Oct. 7 “from the Nova Music Festival.”
The IDF named the three as Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzhak Gelernter, and claimed that Hamas murdered the three deceased hostages. “We will continue operating to bring all of our hostages home. May their memories be a blessing,” the IDF vowed in a tweet.
Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzhak Gelernter were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 from the Nova Music Festival.
Overnight, our troops recovered their bodies and brought them back home to Israel.
We will continue operating to bring all of our hostages… pic.twitter.com/ya8IoZ8Dvb
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 17, 2024
The IDF determined the identity of the victims through a “procedure carried out by medical officials at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Ministry of Health,” and notified the families of the victims, IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari tweeted in Hebrew. (RELATED: Former IDF Intel Officer Gives His View Of Peace Talks’ Reliability, Says ‘Forget About’ Liberating All Hostages)
גופותיהם של החטופים יצחק גלרנטר, שני לוק ועמית בוסקילה ז״ל חולצו הלילה (ו׳) במבצע משותף של צה״ל ושב״כ.
ממידע מודיעיני מאומת שברשותנו יצחק גלרנטר, שני לוק ועמית בוסקילה ז״ל נרצחו במהלך מתקפת הטרור האכזרית ב-7 באוקטובר בעיקול מפלסים, וגופותיהם נחטפו לעזה על ידי מחבלי חמאס.…
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) May 17, 2024
The Israeli government had declared Louk, a 23-year-old German-Israeli festival goer, as deceased on Oct. 30. “Shani [Louk] who was kidnapped from a music festival and tortured and paraded around Gaza by Hamas terrorists, experienced unfathomable horrors. Our hearts are broken. May her memory be a blessing,” the Israel Foreign Ministry wrote in a tweet. Louk’s mother also told German media that her daughter was killed. The Nova festival attack by Hamas on Oct. 7 resulted in the murder of over 260 people, the New York Daily News reported.
All told, Hamas’ deadly invasion of southern Israel that day concluded with around 1,200 people being killed and over 200 men, women and children were taken into the Gaza Strip as hostages.