- This story is breaking, more to come
The IDF has found the bodies of three hostages, including Nova Festival partygoer Shani Louk, from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military, which also found the bodies of Itzhak Gelerenter and Amit Buskila, said they were recovered during a nighttime operation carried out by Shin Bet, an Israeli intelligence agency, but did not share details of where their bodies were found.
All three attended the Oct. 7 Nova Festival near Kibbutz Re’im, one of the first locations attacked by Hamas during its deadly incursion into Israel. Daniel Hagari and IDF spokesman said their families have all been informed of their deaths, confirmed after formal identification.
Images of Shani, 22, splashed onto the front pages of newspapers around the world after video emerged of Hamas parading her half-naked body in the back of a truck on October 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths of the three revelers “heartbreaking” and added: “We will return all our hostages, both living and dead.”
Images of 22-year-old Shani (pictured) splashed onto the front pages of newspapers around the world after video emerged of Hamas parading her half-naked body in the back of a truck on October 7.
Shani with her mother Ricarda (photo, left)
The IDF has been largely active in and around Rafah, the Gaza Strip’s last surviving city, and has claimed that intelligence indicates hostages are being held there.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people, almost all of them civilians, and kidnapped about 250 people on October 7.
About half have since been released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong ceasefire in November.
Israel says about 100 hostages remain alive somewhere in Gaza, along with the bodies of another 30.
Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians since the attack, according to Gaza health officials.
More to follow.
