Israeli troops recover bodies of three hostages in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday reported that their soldiers recovered the bodies of the hostages in a joint operation with the Israeli security service, Shin Bet. The operation was based on intelligence gathered by Shin Bet from its investigations into terrorist operations in Gaza and on information provided by Israel’s Captives and Missing Persons Command.

Who were the hostages? The IDF publicly identified the deceased hostages as Yitzhak Gelernter, Shani Louk, and Amit Buskila. Israeli medical experts confirmed the hostages’ identities, officials notified their families, and then the military published their identities, according to the IDF.

What was their cause of death? Terrorists slaughtered the three individuals during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed roughly 1,200 others in Israel, the IDF said. The terrorists then took their bodies hostage, transporting them back across the border into Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and said the Israeli government would do everything that it could to bring all the hostages home.

Dig deeper: Read Leo Briceno’s report in The Stew about how the House of Representatives passed a bill requiring the Biden administration to keep its weapons shipment promises to Israel.