Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin Among 6 Hostages Killed in Gaza

[Pelican Press 0]

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********-********* Hersh Goldberg-Polin Among 6 Hostages ******* in Gaza

Tributes poured in on Sunday for the six hostages who were found ***** in southern Gaza over the weekend.

The hostages, who the ******** military said had been “brutally murdered” by ******, ranged in age from 23 to 40. Five had been at a dance music festival in southern ******* when they were taken captive during the Oct. 7 ******* on ******* by ****** and its allies; a sixth was taken from the village of Be’eri.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group of their relatives,

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Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino. It also provided ages.

More than 60 living hostages, and the bodies of about 35 other hostages believed to be *****, are still in Gaza, according to ******** authorities.

Here is what we know about the six whose deaths were confirmed on Sunday.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23

Mr. Goldberg-Polin was a dual ******** ********* citizen who was taken ******** from the festival in southern ******* on Oct. 7. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, had traveled the world since, advocating the release of the hostages.

“Hersh is a happy-go-lucky, *****-back, good-humored, respectful and curious person,” she

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last month, when she spoke at the Democratic National Convention with her husband, Jon.

“He is a civilian,” she added. “He loves soccer, is wild about music and music festivals, and he has been obsessed with geography and travel since he was a little boy.”

Mr. Goldberg-Polin was born in Berkeley, Calif. His family moved to ******* when he was in elementary school. Grievously injured during the *******, Mr. Goldberg-Polin lost part of his left arm and was last seen in a video released by ****** in April.

President Biden was among those who expressed condolences to Mr. Goldberg-Polin’s family. “I am devastated and outraged,” Mr. Biden said in a

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, adding, “He planned to travel the world.”

Carmel Gat, 40

Ms. Gat lived in Tel Aviv but was staying at her parents’ house in Be’eri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border, when she was taken ******** on Oct. 7. Her mother, Kinneret Gat, was

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.

“Carmel was an occupational therapist, full of compassion and love, always finding ways to support and help others,” the forum

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. “She loved solo travel, meeting new people, live rock music concerts, and was particularly fond of Radiohead.”

Haaretz published a

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of Ms. Gat in January that said her closest friends had been holding regular yoga classes in her honor in Tel Aviv in what has become known as “******** Square.”

They also created a Spotify playlist of her favorite songs, Haaretz reported, calling it “a humorous, eclectic mix.”

“I remember us coming back to the kibbutz on weekends, putting music on and dancing,” Adi Zohar, a classmate, told the news outlet. “That’s her. Making a party out of things. Taking it easy.”

On Sunday, a cousin, Gil Dickmann,

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of a young Ms. Gat, wearing a pink shirt and holding a young baby, grinning at the camera. “Sorry Carmeli,” he wrote, adding, “If only you saw how your friends fought to get you back alive.”

Alexander Lobanov, 32

Mr. Lobanov, who went by Alex, lived in the southern ******** city of Ashkelon, according to the

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.

It said he was working as a bar manager at the festival when the ******* began and that witnesses said Mr. Lobanov helped evacuate people.

He and his wife, Michal, had two children: Tom, who is 2, and Kai, who is five months old and was born when Mr. Lobanov was in captivity in Gaza,

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.

Mr. Lobanov also held Russian citizenship, according to Russia’s ambassador to *******, Anatoly Viktorov.

“We mourn together with the entire family,” he said in a statement.

Ori Danino, 25

Ori Danino was from Jerusalem and was planning to study electrical engineering,

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.

The oldest of five children, Mr. Danino had escaped the music festival but had gone back to help other people when he was captured, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum

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.

“He was a fighter,” his partner, Liel Avraham, said on ******** radio after learning of his ******, The Jerusalem Post

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Sunday. She called him a “hero” who “excelled in everything he did.”

Ms. Avraham had posted about Mr. Danino on social media during his captivity. On April 7, she

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on

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and in the caption teased him for losing to her at Backgammon and for letting his morning alarm ring.

Four weeks ago, she posted a

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of the two of them with the caption: “I’m waiting for you.”

Almog Sarusi, 27

Mr. Sarusi was from Ra’anana, a city north of Tel Aviv, according to Haaretz. It said he was at the music festival with his longtime girlfriend and had stayed by her side after she was wounded in the *******.

She *****, and he was captured.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum

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as “a vibrant, positive person who loved traveling around ******* in his white jeep with his guitar.”

Eden Yerushalmi, 24

Ms. Yerushalmi was “a vibrant young woman with many friends and hobbies,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum wrote on X. “Eden loved spending summer days at the beach playing paddleball, attending parties, and was studying to become a Pilates instructor.”

In November, Ms. Yerushalmi’s sisters lit candles for her in New York City at the gravesite of a major spiritual leader in Judaism. They giggled at the time, trying to explain her nickname — “Opossum” — an old inside joke the sisters could no longer recall. Relatives of Ms. Yerushalmi had also traveled to Paris and Washington to press for the release of the hostages.

In

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, Ms. Yerushalmi’s sisters said she was a waitress in Tel Aviv who loved to make TikTok videos, rode a motorcycle and was “always the life of the party.”

“She’s very friendly,” they said in another

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, posted in July. “She lives life to the fullest.”

Aaron Boxerman, Gabby Sobelman and Myra Noveck contributed reporting.

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#IsraeliAmerican #Hersh #GoldbergPolin #Among #Hostages #******* #Gaza

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