The hostages killed in Gaza: a young man who risked his life to help, a yogi who taught other hostages to meditate… | El Diario Vasco

Israel has recovered the bodies of six hostages captured on October 7 by Palestinian Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. They were all found in an underground tunnel in Rafah, south of Gaza, and are part of the contingent of 200 people kidnapped on a day that ultimately sparked Israeli attacks on Palestinians. 97 of the hostages are still in captivity. Five of the bodies found were part of the audience at the Supernova music festival, where the terrorists were particularly vicious. These are their stories.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23 years old

The youngest of them, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American citizen who also held Israeli citizenship. He was captured at the music festival. Born in California, he moved to Israel when he was in elementary school. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, participated in the Democratic National Convention, where she described Hersh as a “joyful, respectful, curious and good-humored person.”

One of his passions was football, but not American football. One of his dreams was to travel around the world, as “he was obsessed with geography and travel,” his mother said. He was also “mad about music and festivals.” His family has been one of those who has fought hardest for the lives of the hostages, even visiting Pope Francis.

President Biden has also joined in the condolences, calling the death “tragic and reprehensible.” During the Hamas attack, Hersh was said to have hidden in a bomb shelter with others, but was surrounded by the military. He was captured, and Hamas released a video showing Hersh being loaded into a van with part of his left arm missing, which was eventually amputated.

Ori Danino, 25 years old

His partner describes Ori as “a fighter and a hero.” He was also at the music festival with a friend at the time of the attack. They separated to flee to their own cars, but Danino decided to return to help the rest escape. He picked up three people and nothing more was heard of them.

Eden Yerushalmi, 24 years old

According to the Missing Hostages and Families Forum, she was “a vibrant young woman with lots of friends and hobbies” who loved spending summer days on the beach. She was also studying to become a pilates teacher.

Her family also went out of their way when they learned she had been kidnapped. Her sisters lit candles in New York at the grave of a prominent Jewish spiritual leader, and other relatives also traveled to Paris and Washington to lobby for the hostages’ release. Eden was at the festival, where she was able to call her mother three hours before her phone went dead. During the attack, she hid in cars, surrounded by the bodies of her friends. She managed to escape into the woods, but was eventually found and taken hostage.

Almog Sarusi, 27 years old

“An intellectual person with solid reasoning and an extraordinary ability to captivate everyone he meets,” is how the hostage forum described the 27-year-old man who attended the festival with his girlfriend Shachar. The terrorists attacked, seriously injuring his girlfriend. Instead of escaping, Almog stayed behind to help her, but ultimately did not survive. According to the forum, he was from Ra’anana, a city north of Tel Aviv. He is said to have “loved traveling around Israel with his guitar in his Jeep.”

Alexander Lobanov, 32 years old

A Russian-Israeli citizen who was the father of two young children. Known by the nickname ‘Alex’, he lived in southern Israel, in the city of Ashkelon. He was working as a bartender at the festival when the incident occurred. According to some witnesses, he assisted and helped evacuate the wounded during the attack. He was eventually captured. His young son was born during his captivity, five months ago.

Carmel Gat, 40 years old

Carmel Gat was the only one not at the festival. An Israeli national living in Tel Aviv, she was in the Be’eri commune with her parents. Her mother, Kinneret, did not survive the attacks.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, her closest friends had been holding a weekly yoga class in her honour. Carmel worked as a therapist: “She was full of compassion and love, and always found ways to support and help others,” the forum wrote in a post on Twitter. “She loved solo travel, meeting new people, live rock music concerts, and her favourite band was Radiohead.” Other freed hostages described her as their “guardian angel” who had taught them to meditate in order to cope with the harsh captivity in a more positive way.