Israel recovers the bodies of 6 hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin
Israel on Sunday said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including a young Israeli-American man who became one of the most well-known captives held by Hamas as his parents met with world leaders and pressed for his release.
Video above: Parents of Israeli-American hostage speak
The military said all six had been killed shortly before the arrival of Israeli forces trying to rescue them. Their recovery sparked calls for mass protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom many families of hostages and much of the wider Israeli public blame for failing to bring them back alive in a deal with Hamas to end the 10-month-old war. Negotiations over such a deal have dragged on for months.
Netanyahu expressed sorrow over the deaths and said Israel would hold Hamas accountable for killing them in 바카라 게임 웹사이트cold blood.바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said the killings prove that the militant group does not want a a cease-fire agreement.
바카라 게임 웹사이트Whoever murders hostages doesn바카라 게임 웹사이트t want a deal,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said.
Militants seized Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, and four of the other hostages at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.
The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him, his left hand missing and clearly speaking under duress, sparking new protests in Israel urging the government to do more to secure his and others바카라 게임 웹사이트 freedom.
The army identified the other dead hostages as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; and Alexander Lobanov, 33; who were also taken from the music festival. The sixth, Carmel Gat, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be'eri.
It said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, around a kilometer (half a mile) from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued alive last week.
바카라 게임 웹사이트According to preliminary information, they were cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, told reporters.
Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, blamed the hostages' deaths on Israel and the United States, saying they would still be alive if Israel had accepted a cease-fire proposal that Hamas said it had agreed to back in July. He did not mention the hostages by name.
Families of hostages call for a 바카라 게임 웹사이트complete halt of the country바카라 게임 웹사이트
Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and says military pressure is needed to bring home the hostages.
Israel's Channel 12 reported that he got into a shouting match at a security Cabinet meeting late Thursday with his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who accused him of prioritizing control of 바카라 게임 웹사이트 a major sticking point in the talks 바카라 게임 웹사이트 over the lives of the hostages. The Cabinet reportedly voted in favor of remaining in the corridor over the objections of Gallant, who said it would prevent a hostage deal.
An Israeli official confirmed the report and said three of the hostages 바카라 게임 웹사이트 Goldberg-Polin, Yerushalmi and Gat 바카라 게임 웹사이트 had been slated to be released in the first phase of a cease-fire proposal discussed back in July. The official was not authorized to brief media about the negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
바카라 게임 웹사이트In the name of the state of Israel, I hold their families close to my heart and ask forgiveness,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Gallant said Sunday after the remains were recovered. He later called for the Cabinet to reverse its decision.
A forum of hostage families called for a massive protest on Sunday, demanding a 바카라 게임 웹사이트complete halt of the country바카라 게임 웹사이트 to push for the implementation of a cease-fire and hostage release.
바카라 게임 웹사이트A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive,바카라 게임 웹사이트 it said in a statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden, who has met with Goldberg-Polin's parents, said he was 바카라 게임 웹사이트devastated and outraged.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트It is as tragic as it is reprehensible,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Vice President Kamala Harris said her prayers were with the Goldberg-Polin family and condemned Hamas.
A high-profile campaign
Goldberg-Polin바카라 게임 웹사이트s parents, U.S.-born immigrants to Israel, became perhaps the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage. They met with Biden, Pope Francis and others and addressed the United Nations, urging the release of all hostages.
On Aug. 21, his parents addressed a hushed hall at the Democratic National Convention 바카라 게임 웹사이트 after sustained applause and chants of 바카라 게임 웹사이트bring him home.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트This is a political convention. But needing our only son 바카라 게임 웹사이트 and all of the cherished hostages 바카라 게임 웹사이트 home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said his father, Jon Polin. His mother, Rachel, who bowed her head during the ovation and touched her chest, said 바카라 게임 웹사이트Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you, stay strong, survive.바카라 게임 웹사이트
She and her husband sought to keep their son and the others held from being reduced to numbers, describing Hersh as a music and soccer lover and traveler with plans to attend university since his military service had ended. At events she often addressed her son directly in the hope he could hear her, urging him to live another day.
Some 250 hostages were taken on Oct. 7. Before the military바카라 게임 웹사이트s announcement of the latest discovery of bodies, Israel said it believed 108 hostages were still held in Gaza, of which about one-third were dead. In late August, the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages in southern Gaza.
Eight hostages have been rescued by Israeli forces, the most recent found on Tuesday. More than 100 were freed during a weeklong cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Two previous Israeli operations to free hostages killed scores of Palestinians. Hamas says several hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and failed rescue attempts. Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israelis who escaped captivity in December.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, attacking army bases and several farming communities.
Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were fighters and how many civilians. It has displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, often multiple times, and plunged the besieged territory into a humanitarian catastrophe.
In a separate development Sunday, Palestinian militants killed three people when they opened fire on an Israeli vehicle in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has been carrying out large-scale military raids in recent days. Israel바카라 게임 웹사이트s Magen David Adom rescue service confirmed the casualties.