Gaza - May 19, 2024

IDF: Cleared for Publication: The Bodies of the Four Israeli Hostages were Rescued from Underground Tunnels in Jabaliya in an Operation by the 98th Division

During a joint operation conducted last weekend, the 202nd Battalion Combat Team, Yahalom soldiers, Unit 504 and the ISA, under the command of the 98th Division, rescued the bodies of four Israeli hostages - Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin and Yitzchak Gelernter - from underground tunnels in Jabaliya in northern Gaza.

Shani Louk, Amit Buskila, Ron Benjamin and Yitzchak Gelernter were all murdered during the October 7th Massacre carried out by Hamas in southern Israel, and their bodies were subsequently abducted into the Gaza Strip.

The prolonged intelligence effort to locate them was managed by the ISA and the Abducted and Missing Persons Headquarters in the Intelligence Directorate (J2), together with additional units in the IDF. The effort lasted for several months, and included gathering and analyzing intelligence to put together the overall picture.

During operations of the Paratroopers Brigade combat team in the center of Jabaliya, the soldiers of the 202nd Battalion combat team fought in the identified area for three days in intense battles. In a joint operation, IDF Paratroopers and the ISA searched a suspected building in which the tunnel shaft was located. After locating the tunnel shaft, Yahalom soldiers entered the underground tunnel route in a night operation and inside it, conducted combat, neutralized blockades and located intelligence materials and large quantities of weapons. During the fighting, the Yahalom soldiers together with ISA and Unit 504 located the bodies of the hostages and rescued them from the tunnels.

Alongside the operational effort, the Abducted and Missing Persons Team in the Manpower Directorate (J1), which is entrusted with accompanying the families of the hostages, worked together with the Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police, to identify the hostages and deliver the messages to the families.

The IDF and the security agencies will continue to operate in order to bring home all the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.