The three hostages were killed by Hamas during the Tribe of Nova festival before their bodies were transported to the Palestinian territory, according to Israel.
The Israeli army announced Friday that its troops in Gaza had found the bodies of three Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during its October 7 attack, including Israeli-German Shani Louk.
The army identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, Itzhak Gelerenter.
All three were killed by Hamas during the Nova Music Festival and their bodies were transported to the Palestinian territory, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an army spokesman, said at a news conference.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deaths “heartbreaking”.
The army said the bodies were found overnight, without giving further details, and did not immediately say where they were. Israel carried out operations in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where it said it had intelligence about the detention of hostages.
Humanitarian aid to Gaza
Trucks carrying much-needed aid to the Gaza Strip crossed the floating pier built by American soldiers, and entered the besieged and bombed enclave for the first time on Friday, amid Israeli restrictions on crossings border crossings are hampering deliveries of food and other supplies.
US troops completed the installation of the floating jetty on Thursday, and US military Central Command said the first aid crossed into the Gaza Strip at 9 a.m. Friday. He said no American troops had gone ashore as part of the operation.
The delivery is the first in an operation that U.S. military officials say could reach 150 trucks per day. While the southern city of Rafah is still threatened by an Israeli attack.
But the United States and aid groups warn that the floating jetty project is no substitute for land deliveries that could bring all the food, water and fuel needed to the Gaza Strip.
Before the war, more than 500 trucks entered the territory every day.
Who will ensure distribution?
The Pentagon said no reinforcements were expected in the distribution process. The American plan provides for the UN to take charge of the aid once it has left the pier. The world organization’s World Food Program will then give it to aid groups for distribution.
Aid distribution had not yet started as of Friday afternoon, a U.N. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The official said the process of unloading and reloading cargoes was still underway.
The UN’s humanitarian aid coordinating agency said the start of the operation was welcome but did not replace land deliveries.
“I think everyone involved in the operation said it: Any aid to Gaza is welcome, whatever route it takes.”said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Fuel shortage
The delivery of aid to the people of Gaza”cannot and should not rely on a floating dock far from where the needs are most acute“. The UN had previously indicated that fuel deliveries by land had virtually ceased, which would make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to the people of Gaza.
“No matter how aid arrives, whether by sea or land, without fuel, aid will not reach the people” said UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the issue of fuel deliveries was raised in all conversations between the United States and the Israelis. She also said the plan is to start slowly by sea and increase truck deliveries as problems in the system are resolved.
ADVERTISEMENTIsrael fears Hamas is using fuel in the war, but it says it places no limits on the entry of humanitarian aid and accuses the United Nations of delays in distributing goods entering Gaza.
Under pressure from the United States, Israel opened two crossings to deliver aid into the territory’s hard-hit north in recent weeks.
He said a series of Hamas attacks on the main crossing point, Kerem Shalom, had disrupted the flow of goods. The United Nations says fighting, Israeli fire and chaotic security conditions have hampered deliveries.
Violent demonstrations by Israelis also disrupted the delivery of aid.
A key border post
Israel recently seized the key border crossing of Rafah as part of its offensive against Hamas around the town on the Egyptian border, raising fears about the safety of civilians while cutting off the main access route to the Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid.
ADVERTISEMENTUS President Joe Biden ordered the pier project, which is expected to cost $320 million. The aid-laden boats will be dropped off at an Israeli-built port southwest of Gaza City and then distributed by aid groups.
The site has already been the target of mortar fire during its construction, and Hamas has threatened to attack any foreign force that “occupies” the Gaza Strip.
Joe Biden has made it clear that there will be no US forces on the ground in Gaza, and so third-country contractors will drive the trucks to the shore.
Israeli forces are responsible for security on the shore, but two U.S. Navy warships are nearby and can protect American troops and others.
Aid for the seaway is collected and inspected in Cyprus, then loaded onto ships and transported about 320 kilometers to the large floating jetty off the coast of Gaza.
ADVERTISEMENTThere, the pallets are transferred to trucks that then head to army boats, which shuttle between the pier and a floating causeway anchored on the beach. Once the trucks have dropped off the aid, they return to the boats.
