This morning, the family of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin announced the news that Goldberg-Polin was murdered in Hamas captivity. An Israeli military announcement also confirmed the deaths of hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi, and Alexander Lobanov.
“The bodies of the six hostages were located in an underground tunnel in Rafah,” the military spokesperson said. “They were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we got to them.” According to the statement, the bodies were found about half a mile from the location where hostage Kaid Farhan Elkadi was successfully rescued.
In the statement confirming the deaths, the Hostage Families Forum wrote, “[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. That’s now a fact.”
“With a broken heart, the Goldberg-Polin family announces the death of our beloved son and brother Hersh,” that family wrote in a separate statement. “The family is grateful for everyone’s support and love and requests privacy at this time.”
Hersh, 24, was taken hostage from the Nova music festival. His parents, who are also American citizens, were extremely active in international activism regarding the hostages’ release.
Ori Danino, also 24, was also abducted from the music festival. He initially managed to flee and then returned in an attempt to help save others.
“My loved one, I am sorry that I didn’t manage to do everything in time,” Danino’s brother wrote. “I will live with this forever. I know you’ll guard over me from above and I don’t believe that I’m even capable of speaking about you this way.”
Eden Yerushalmi, also 24, was working at the festival as a bartender when she was abducted.
Alexander Lobanov, 40, was working as the bar manager. A resident of Ashkelon, he leaves behind his parents, one brother, a wife and two children, one of whom was born while he was in captivity.
Almog Sarusi, 26, was at the festival with his girlfriend Shahar Gindi, who was also killed in the massacre. After Gindi was injured, Sarusi stayed by her side and tried to save her life.
Carmel Gat, 40, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, where she was visiting family. Her mother Kineret Gat, 68, was also murdered. Her brother Alon Gat and sister-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat and their 3-year-old daughter Gefen were kidnapped. Alon managed to escape together with Gefen, and Yarden was released during the hostage release deal after 54 days in captivity.
In a statement after the news was released, Netanyahu said, “We are in a difficult day. The heart of the entire nation is rent. Together with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the depths of my soul from the horrible murder in cold blood of six of our hostages.”
Netanyahu went on to say that Hamas was refusing to participate in genuine negotiations about the hostages’ release.
The Hostage Families Forum rejected Netanyahu’s statement. “Enough blaming everyone,” the group’s statement read. “Take responsibility for your failure. Take responsibility for the abandonment. Take responsibility for the hostages who were murdered in captivity. You are the prime minister. The responsibility to return the hostages is yours.”
The statement criticized Netanyahu’s decision to place full blame for the deal’s failure on Hamas. “We don’t expect the terrorist [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar to want to return the hostages. We expect the Israeli prime minister to do everything, everything, everything in order to bring the hostages back home,” the group said.
The group called for prioritizing an immediate return. “The blood of murderous Hamas terrorists will be collected and the time will come for retaliatory actions,” the forum wrote. “If you’ve given up on 101 hostages, act like an actual courageous leader and make it known that you gave up on them. Stop hiding behind spin and blame applied to terrorist groups. We’re their families. We’re their brothers and sisters. We’re the nation of Israel—we won’t leave even one of them behind.”
Protests mourning the six murdered hostages and calling for the release of the more than 100 remaining hostages are currently ongoing across Israel.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.
