Israeli army identifies bodies of 6 Gaza hostages and says they were killed before being rescued

[Pelican Press 0]

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******** army identifies bodies of 6 Gaza hostages and says they were ******* before being rescued

JERUSALEM (AP) — The ******** military has identified the bodies of six hostages recovered from a tunnel in the Gaza Strip and says their militant captors ******* them shortly before ******** forces could rescue them.

The army identified them as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23; Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; and Alexander Lobanov, 33; all of whom were abducted from a music festival during ******’ Oct. 7 *******. The sixth, Carmel Gat, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be’eri.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the ******** military spokesperson, said Sunday that “they were cruelly murdered shortly before we were to rescue them.”

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

The family of ********-********* ******** Hersh Goldberg-Polin announced the young man’s ****** early Sunday, ending a relentless campaign by his parents to rescue him that included meetings with world leaders and an address to the Democratic convention last month.

Goldberg-Polin, 23, was seized by militants at a music festival in southern ******* on Oct. 7. The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the *******. In April, a ******-issued video showed him, his left hand missing and clearly speaking under duress, sparking new protests in ******* urging the government to do more to secure his and others’ freedom.

*******’s announcement is bound to bring urgent new calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring home remaining hostages. The ******** leader has taken a tough line in negotiations and repeatedly said that military pressure is needed to bring home the hostages. According to ******** media, he has feuded with top security officials who have said a deal should be reached urgently.

President Joe Biden, who had met with the parents, said he was “devastated and outraged.”

“It is as tragic as it is reprehensible,” he said. “Make no mistake, ****** leaders will pay for these *******. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”

The family issued its statement early Sunday, hours after the ******** army said it had located bodies in Gaza.

“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the ****** of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,” it said. “The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.”

There was no immediate comment from the army, details on the exact circumstances of his ****** or identities of other bodies recovered. But Biden said a total of six bodies had been recovered in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

“I have gotten to know his parents, Jon and Rachel. They have been courageous, wise and steadfast, even as they have endured the unimaginable,” he said. “They have been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions. I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express.”

******** media began announcing the names of other hostages recovered in the operation, but the reports were not immediately confirmed. The army was set to issue an official statement later Sunday.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents, U.S.-born immigrants to *******, became perhaps the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage. They met with Biden, Pope Francis and others and addressed the ******* Nations, urging the release of all hostages.

On Aug. 21, his parents addressed a hushed hall at the

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— after sustained applause and chants of “bring him home.”

“This is a political convention. But needing our only son — and all of the cherished hostages — home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” said his father, Jon Polin.

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, who bowed her head during the ovation and touched her chest, said “Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you, stay strong, survive.”

Both wore stickers with the number 320, representing the number of days their son had been held. It had long become part of a morning ritual — tear a new piece of tape, write down another day.

“I find it so remarkable how nauseating it is every single time,’’ Rachel Goldberg-Polin told The Associated Press in January, ahead of the

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. “And it’s good. I don’t want to get used to it. I don’t want anybody to get used to the fact that these people are missing.’’

She asked other people around the world to take up the ritual, too, not only for her son, who moved to ******* with his family when he was 7, but for the other hostages and their families.

She and her husband sought to keep their son and the others held from being reduced to numbers, describing Hersh as a music and soccer lover and traveler with plans to attend university since his military service had ended. At events she often addressed her son directly in the hope he could hear her, urging him to live another day.

Some 250 hostages were taken on Oct. 7. Before the military’s announcement of the latest discovery of bodies, ******* said it believed 108 hostages were still held in Gaza and about one-third of them were *****. In late August, the ******** military recovered the bodies of six hostages in southern Gaza.

Eight hostages have been rescued by ******** forces, the

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found on Tuesday. Most of the rest were freed during a weeklong cease-***** in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by *******.

Two previous ******** operations to free hostages ******* scores of Palestinians. ****** says several hostages have been ******* in ******** airstrikes and ******* rescue attempts. ******** troops

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who escaped captivity in December.

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#******** #army #identifies #bodies #Gaza #hostages #******* #rescued

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