Israel recovers the bodies of 6 hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin
JOSEF FEDERMAN | Updated 1:34 AM EDT, September 1, 2024JERUSALEM (AP) — 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, including at the Democratic convention last month.
The military said all six had been killed shortly before they were to be rescued by Israeli forces.
Their recovery sparked calls for mass protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who 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.
In a separate development, gunmen shot and killed two people and wounded a third when they opened fire on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has been carrying out large-scale military raids in recent days. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service confirmed the casualties.
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 others’ freedom.
The army identified the other 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 (0.6 mile) from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued alive last week.
“According 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.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas. . .
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-gaza-hamas-war-hostages-hersh-netanyahu-29496f50a9b1740bd3905035ffd23052
Apparently, the general consensus is that Israel should surrender to Hamas and all the Jews vacate the country in order to appease Hamas to release the hostages. Because that is essentially what they are demanding.
