09/01/2024 – 6:12
They were reportedly executed shortly before the Israelis arrived. Among the dead was a young American-Israeli who became one of Hamas’ most famous hostages. WHO begins polio vaccination in the territory. The Israeli army confirmed on Sunday (01/09) that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The dead, all taken hostage on October 7 during the Hamas attack, are four men and two women and have been identified as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino.
This brings the number of people still held captive to 97, out of the 251 kidnapped on October 7. Of these, at least 33 are confirmed dead.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the six hostages were believed to have been killed by Hamas shortly before forces reached them, according to an initial investigation. Their bodies were found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, about a kilometer (a mile) from where hostage Kaid Farhan al-Qadi, 52, was found alive last week, Hagari said.
“Those who kill hostages don’t want a deal”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel will not rest until it captures those responsible for the deaths of the six hostages.
In a statement, he said his country was working toward a deal to free the remaining hostages and ensure Israel’s security. “Whoever murders hostages – they don’t want a deal,” Netanyahu said.
On Saturday, around 11 pm (local time), the Army confirmed that it had found “several bodies during the fighting” in Gaza and said that “troops continue to operate in the area and carry out an extraction and identification process”.
“A deal for the return of the hostages has been under discussion for more than two months. If it weren’t for delays, sabotage and excuses, those whose deaths we learned of this morning would probably still be alive,” responded the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an organization that represents the families of the hostages and which announced demonstrations this Sunday in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
American-Israeli among the dead
Among the dead, many in their 20s, was 24-year-old American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a California native who became one of Hamas’s most notorious hostages. His family confirmed his death in a Facebook message. U.S. President Joe Biden sent his condolences in a statement.
On October 7, Hersh attended the Universo Paralello – Supernova music festival, where he was kidnapped and injured, forced to wear a tourniquet, and had one of his hands amputated, as seen in videos of the attack.
Just four months ago, in a video released by Hamas on April 24, Hersh was seen in good health, reading a message to Benjamin Netanyahu on camera, saying the ruler was not doing enough to free the hostages.
His family has also been one of the most active in the fight for the return of prisoners. In November, his mother, Rachel, was one of 12 family members who met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, and both parents have spoken frequently about the urgency of reaching a ceasefire agreement.
“Hersh, we are working day and night and we will never stop,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin reiterated on August 29, when the delegation of relatives of the refugees was at the Vatican.
Polio vaccination begins in Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on Sunday, aiming to immunize around 640,000 children.
This comes after the first case of polio in 25 years was discovered in the territory, amid poor hygiene conditions there. Many Palestinians in Gaza live in squalid conditions and there is little clean water.
Vaccinations will begin first in central Gaza. The vaccines are given in two doses four weeks apart. A truce in the fighting between Hamas and the Israeli army was agreed to make the campaign possible.
md (EFE, Reuters)
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