To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Israel Defence Force has recovered three more hostages who were seized by Hamas in the October 7th terrorist attack, and all three were dead. From The Wall Street Journal:
Israel Recovers Three Dead Hostages From Gaza
The three all died on Oct. 7 while trying to flee militants
By Chao Deng, Stephen Kalin and Anat Peled | Friday, May 17, 2024 | 6:08 PM EDT
TEL AVIV—The Israeli military said it had recovered the dead bodies of three Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip based on intelligence from interrogating militants, renewing the focus on the hostage issue as Israel’s leadership presses a military offensive in the southern Gazan town of Rafah.
The three hostages—Amit Buskila, 28, Shani Louk, 23, and Itzik Gelernter, 57—were kidnapped from a music festival on Oct. 7 and recovered Thursday night in a special operation.
For those stymied by the Journal’s paywall, you can read the article for free here.
The military didn’t specify the location in which they were found, although it said they were killed on Oct. 7 while the three tried to escape from the Nova music festival near the Gaza border, which was overrun with Hamas militants.
Some 125 of the over 240 hostages taken on Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, according to Israel.
The latest hostage operation shows how challenging it is for Israeli authorities to recover the hostages and comes as negotiations with Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the U.S., have fizzled. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Saudi Arabia on Saturday to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then go to Israel on Sunday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Sullivan’s talks with Israelis will include stalled efforts to reach a hostage deal. He will also press Israelis to take a more targeted approach against Hamas.
We have previously noted that The New York Times reported that Hamas’ mastermind of the October 7th attack, Yahya Sinwar, is hiding out in a very deep subterranean tunnel under Khan Younis, “protected by a group of Israeli hostages he uses as human shields to dissuade Israeli forces from raiding or bombing his location.” Israel wants Mr Sinwar dead and his body ground up and thrown into a pigsty — OK, OK, I added that last part myself — and the cowardly Mr Sinwar, who doesn’t care how many Palestinian civilians are killed, seems unlikely to surrender himself to the IDF. He knows the value of hostages, as he is a convicted murderer, languishing in an Israeli jail, but one of over a thousand imprisoned Palestinians traded for a single Israeli soldier.
For the IDF to capture Mr Sinwar, all the hostages shielding him would have to be killed. The death penalty exists in Israel only for treason and crimes against humanity, something for which Mr Sinwar would certainly qualify.
In the past two weeks, the Israeli military has sent its tanks and ground troops into Rafah, which it says is Hamas’s last stronghold and where some hostages are being held.
There have been two successful rescue operations by the Israeli military to recover a total of three hostages alive so far in the war. Recovering hostages as well as destroying Hamas are two goals Israel has said it seeks to achieve in the war in Gaza.
Israel has recovered three hostages alive so far, three out of how many? The number fluctuates, but there are roughly 133 hostages Israel believes to be in the hands of the terrorists. As the current report tells us, at least some of them are already dead. Yes, it’s a harsh thing to say, but the goal has to be destroying Hamas, regardless of what happens to the hostages. If concern for the hostages allows Mr Sinwar and his ilk to escape, then the next October 7th is not a matter of if, but when.