The family of Israeli-American poet Hersh Goldberg-Polin have been left ‘devastated’ after he was found dead in Gaza along with five other hostages.
His recovered yesterday along with those of Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Alexander Lobanov, 33, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25.
The IDF claimed they had been ‘cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them’ in a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza.
Hamas blamed their deaths on ‘Zionist bombing’.
All had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, with the exception of Gat, who was abducted from the Be’eri farming community.
Goldberg-Polin, 23, had hidden in a bomb shelter that day, losing part of his left arm while trying to throw back grenades the Hamas militants had hurled inside.
Their bodies were discovered on Saturday just half a mile from where another hostage, Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was found alive last week.
Overnight autopsies found gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of the body, Israeli outlet Ynet reported.
They appeared to have been neglected and unshowered for some time, but aside from evidence of tying on one of the six, there was no signs of torture.
Goldberg-Polin’s family said: ‘With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh.
‘The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.’
His parents launched a high-profile international campaign for his release, meeting with US President Joe Biden and Pope Francis, and addressing the United Nations.
Just last month, they addressed the Democratic National Convention, where the crowd chanted ‘Bring them home’.
‘This is a political convention’, his father Jon Polin said. ‘But needing our only son and all of the cherished hostages home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue.’
Biden said he was ‘devastated and outraged’ by the latest hostage deaths, saying: ‘It is as tragic as it is reprehensible.
‘Make 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.’
But it’s been 10 months since October 7, Hamas still exists, and 108 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, about a third of them dead.
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The recovery of six more dead hostages has made Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s embattled position even more precarious.
Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s largest, will close tomorrow as part of a general strike backed by Histadrut, the country’s trade union federation.
It comes after Hostages and Missing Families Forum asked the unions and general public ‘to join a massive demonstration, demanding a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal to release the hostages’.
Cinema chain Lev and numerous restaurants have announced they will close in solidarity, while opposition leader Yair Lapid has backed calls for a strike.
Even Netanyahu’s defence minister Yoav Gallant urged the Prime Minister to negotiate.
While it’s ‘too late for the abductees who were murdered in cold blood’, he said, ‘the abductees who remain in the captivity of Hamas must be returned home’.
Goldberg-Polin previously sparked protests when he appeared in a Hamas video in April, while in captivity, urging the government to do more to secure hostages’ freedom.
Just yesterday, the sister of a hostage was hospitalised after being hit by a police vehicle during a demonstration in Tel Aviv demanding a hostage deal.
A doctor who treated her at the scene was arrested.
Many of the hostages’ families, as well as much of the Israeli public, blame Netanyahu for the failure to reach a deal with Hamas.
He has insisted on using military pressure to secure their return, at the cost of more than 40,000 dead Palestinians.
This has brought him into conflict with even his top security officials, who say a deal should be reached urgently.
Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to this current war, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Prisoner swaps have taken place, with 107 hostages returned in exchange for three times the number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Despite positive, albeit fleeting, signs from Israel that a ceasefire deal is on the horizon, its military campaign in Gaza continues.
Even today, Netanyahu dismissed the idea of a negotiated release of hostages.
He said: ‘I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our abductees and I say to their leaders – your lives are now forfeit.
‘We will not rest and we will not be silent. We will pursue you, we will catch up with you and we will settle accounts with you.’
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said: ‘The heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces.’
Defence minister Yoav Gallant said: ‘In the name of the state of Israel, I hold their families close to my heart and ask forgiveness.’
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