3 recovered hostages rest in Israel, 7 months after being killed by Hamas

Funerals were held Sunday for three of the four hostages whose bodies were recovered by IDF troops over the weekend in the Gaza Strip, more than seven months after their assassination.

Shani Louk was buried in Srigim, Amit Buskila was buried in Kiryat Gat, and Itzhak Gelerenter’s funeral took place at Kibbutz Palmahim. Ron Benjamin’s funeral is scheduled for Monday at Kibbutz Palmahim.

The four hostages were murdered on October 7 and their bodies taken from Gaza by Hamas terrorists, according to the IDF. Louk’s death was confirmed by the army last October, but the fate of the three other hostages was unknown until this weekend. Louk, Buskila and Gelerenter were all at the Supernova music festival that day, while Benjamin went for an early morning bike ride.

In the small town of Srigim, south of Beit Shemesh, relatives paid tribute to Louk, 22, a German-Israeli dual national who became an icon of the Hamas massacre after a video broadcast on October 7 and attributed to the terrorist group. , showed his body in the back of a white van, his hair matted with blood. She was surrounded by armed men and marched through Gaza.

At the funeral, his mother, Ricarda, said: “I didn’t think they would be able to bring his body back, and it was a relief when the army informed us that they had found his body and it was complete . »

Shani spent most of her life in the moshav, Ricarda Louk continued, where she enjoyed nature, learned to dance and sew her clothes, and developed her unique clothing style. As a teenager, she felt different from others. She studied art in Jerusalem and graphic design in Jaffa, before learning tattooing. During the year before her death, she traveled extensively abroad and participated in many festivals.

According to her mother, “She once said, ‘There are no bad people, just people for whom things are bad.’ Friends at the funeral wore T-shirts with the words “When we dance, we pray,” with one telling The Times of Israel: “That’s what Shani always said.” »

Shani attended the rave with her boyfriend, Orión Hernández Radoux, a Mexican national who is reportedly currently being held hostage in the Gaza Strip.

Louk’s father, Nissim, told mourners he was sorry he had not been able to protect Shani, who had reassured his parents that the party would be safe.

“We didn’t know the extent of the danger,” he said. For thousands of years, the Jewish people knew how to fight and defend the small land of Israel, he continued.

“We did everything to achieve peace, but that is now over,” he said. “Our leaders repeat the same mistakes, without learning from them. (Albert) Einstein once said that only a fool does the same thing over and over and expects the result to be different each time. If we continue to make the same mistakes of the past decades, we will probably lose our country.”

President Isaac Herzog sent a message to the funeral apologizing for not being able to attend and emphasizing that Nissim Louk’s father, Amram – former head of the Beit Shemesh local council – had been close to his own father, Chaim Herzog , former president. of Israel. While visiting the family, he said he discovered a young woman full of life and creativity, funny, surrounded by friends and always at the center of social events.

The eulogies ended with a song called “Home,” which Louk had written, which included the words “I don’t want war.”

During Buskila’s funeral in Kiryat Gat, thousands of people came to pay tribute to the young fashion designer, assassinated by Hamas on October 7.

Amit’s mother, Ilana Buskila, wept at the funeral: “I prayed for a different end to the torment I endured,” she said.

“I was lucky to have you for 28 years,” continued. “You enveloped me in love, you were my inspiration… you entered the hearts of the people of Israel. »

Her father, Meir, pointed out “how many people came to your funeral, not your wedding… Amit, my daughter, you paid the price for the State of Israel with your life,” he said . “You are in a good world now and you broke us.”

Amit’s brother Siel said she was “the light, the sun, she had courage and bravery, I was proud of your strength, my beloved little sister… you dreamed of conquering the world, but now your bed is made and empty. . Your bedroom mirror won’t see your face. The pots in the kitchen won’t feel the heat from your hands. You were killed because you were Jewish.

The Gelerenter family requested that the media not cover Itzhak’s funeral.

Speaking to Army Radio on Sunday morning, Itzhak’s brother, Itay Gelerenter, said that “we understood, in all honesty, that we can be comforted by (the fact) that we have a grave, that we have a place to cry, a place to collapse.”

His daughter, Yarden Pivko, told 103FM radio on Sunday that “we are grateful for the opportunity to say goodbye properly. There is comfort in that…this is the first time I have said “hello” since October 7th, specifically the day of my father’s funeral, because the lack of knowledge (about him) has been a burden too heavy to walk around. with and live with.

Pivko described his father as a “smiling, witty person, with a sense of humor, the first dad to introduce himself when called, a wonderful grandfather – even if he was macho, strong and tough, with my daughters he was like butter. All his tenderness came out. He was a wonderful person, a good friend, he truly loved life.

With the recovery of the bodies of the four hostages on Friday, an estimated 124 people kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, with the deaths of 37 of them confirmed by Israeli authorities.