The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had identified the bodies of six hostages brought back from Gaza to Israel, including two women and four men, one Israeli-American and one Israeli-Russian.
“The army and the Shin Bet,” the Israeli internal intelligence service, “located (Saturday) and recovered the bodies of hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino from a tunnel in the Rafah area,” in the south of the Gaza Strip, the army announced in a statement.
Five of them – aged 23 to 32 – were abducted at the Nova techno music festival by Hamas commandos during the deadly attack on October 7. The attack resulted in the deaths of a total of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.
“It’s time to bring our hostages home”
Israeli reprisals in Gaza have left at least 40,691 dead, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry, and caused a humanitarian and health disaster in the besieged territory. The majority of the dead are women and minors, according to the UN.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says the six hostages whose bodies were returned were alive when they were taken and then “killed in cold blood by Hamas.” Evidence of life had emerged for the hostages, including a video of Hersh Goldberg-Polin in April shot by his captors.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt are still trying to hammer out a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. So far, no end seems in sight as the war nears its twelfth month.
“An agreement for the return of the hostages has been on the table for two months. Without the delays, the sabotage and the pretexts, those whose deaths we learned of this morning would certainly still be alive,” the Hostages’ Families Forum raged on Sunday.
“It is time to bring our hostages home, to help the living recover and bury the dead with dignity,” the group continued in a statement.
The Forum said that Alexander Lobanov had become a father while in captivity, to a child who is now five months old. “The heart of the entire nation is broken into a thousand pieces,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, according to a statement from his office.
