The Israeli military has found the bodies of 22-year-old German-Israeli influencer and tattoo artist Shani Louk and two other Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, Israel Defense Force (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Friday.
"Last night, the Israel Defense Forces and ISA [Israel Security Agency] forces rescued the bodies of our hostages: Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzchak Glerenter, who were taken hostage during the Hamas Massacre on October 7 and murdered by Hamas. According to the credible information that we’ve gathered, Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Yitzack Glerenter were murdered by Hamas while escaping the Nova Music Festival on October 7 and their bodies were taken into Gaza," Hagari said.
The Israeli military was able to find the bodies thanks to the data obtained during the investigations of Hamas members taken prisoner in the Gaza Strip, the spokesman added. After the bodies are identified at the Israel Forensic Science Institute, they will be returned to the families, he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the victims' loved ones and vowed that Israel would bring all hostages or their bodies home.
Louk's story attracted the attention of the world's media after her mother recognized her on footage released by Hamas. Louk's mother recorded a video address, asking the German authorities to get her daughter out of the Gaza Strip and bring her back home. On the video published by Hamas, a young girl is lying face down in a pickup truck, held down by Hamas militants, with her legs unnaturally twisted. The mother recognized her by the tattoos on her legs.
On October 30 of last year, the foreign ministries of Israel and Germany confirmed Louk's death.
In response to the Hamas attack last October, Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. At least 35,303 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.