Body of Shani Gabay, 25, thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas, found in Israel, say authorities

Shani Gabay, a 25-year-old Israeli womanwho was missing since an unprecedented attack by Palestine-based militant group Hamas on October 7, was found dead by Israeli authorities, local media reported.

Times of Israel reported that they have identified the body of Gabay, nearly seven weeks after the massacre at the Supernova rave near Gaza. She was reportedlytaken hostage and kept with others.

Gabayof Yokne'amhad been working at the party and she was wounded in the leg. She was reportedly last seen seeking refuge in a police command post.

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Some reports on social media forums claimed that she was only identified by her teeth as she was found completely burned inside an ambulance set on fire by Hamas terrorists.

Disclaimer: WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of photos and videos shared on social media.

The town's municipality confirmed her death as mayor, Simon Alfasi, wrote: "Our Shani is gone. Our hearts are broken into pieces. We are all crying and refuse to believe, how much we waited for a different ending."

"Fourty-seven days of hope came to an end with receiving the bitter news this morning about the murder of Shani on October 7. My heart goes out to her dear parents Jacob and Michal, her brother Aviel and her sister Nitzan - who for seven weeks turned every stone and went everywhere in Israel and the world to find Shani, and fought and cried out to bring her home. We all hug the family and stand by their side. May her memory be a blessing," Alfasi was quoted as saying by media outlets.

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'We will forever remember her'

As quoted by the report, her older brother, Aviel Gabay, said that the recent law school graduate had called her mother at 6:40 am (local time), telling her about the stream of rockets and asking what she should do.

The report said that her mother instructed her to pull over and locate a safe area while she was driving. She proceeded to a field shelter near Kibbutz Alumim, unaware that there were terrorists shooting partygoers.

Aviel told the newspaper Maariv that they were "hoping for a different ending, and today we unfortunately discovered the worst ending possible. We believed for many days that she would come back, we were optimistic that there would be a happy ending."

"We will forever remember her joy and happiness. She was amazing and we hoped she would continue to spread her goodness in the world. She was just beginning her life and was in the middle of a law degree, which she will never finish," he added.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.