Thousands line streets for funeral of American-Israeli hostage killed in Gaza

[Pelican Press 0]

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Thousands line streets for ******** of *********-******** ******** ******* in Gaza

By Emily Rose

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Thousands of mourners lined the streets of Jerusalem on Monday to bid farewell to slain *********-******** ******** Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the best-known faces of those seized by ******-led gunmen on Oct. 7.

Goldberg-Polin’s body, along with the bodies of fellow hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino, were recovered by ******** troops on Sunday, triggering an outpouring of grief and rage among Israelis traumatized by one of the most devastating attacks in their country’s history.

“I feel he was like a symbol of the hostages,” Amnon Sadovsky, a 70-year-old teacher told Reuters. “We need to have humanity for all people – for Jews and for ******.”

Goldberg-Polin, 23, who immigrated to ******* from California at the age of seven, was at the Nova music festival in southern ******* on Oct 7, celebrating his birthday when ******-led militants launched their onslaught, ******** 1200 people and taking 253 hostages.

Footage shot during the onslaught showed several ****** militants surrounding the roadside ***** shelter where he was hiding, and throwing grenades through the doorway. Most of those hiding inside were *******, while Hersh lost the lower part of his left arm.

Video showed him being loaded with other hostages onto a pickup van, his injury clearly visible.

He was last seen alive in a ****** video released in April, addressing ******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then his family, giving the first public sign that he had survived his injuries.

On Sunday, following the return of the bodies, an autopsy revealed he and the other five hostages had been shot at close range within 48 hours before ******** forces arrived and recovered the bodies in a tunnel under Gaza.

In a picturesque Jerusalem neighbourhood close to where his family lived, red and white banners bearing his image – a smiling young man with an open shirt and a small beard – dot the streets and hang from balconies, with the message “Free Hersh”.

The ****** of the six, after nearly 11 months in captivity, sparked a wave of protests, with around 500,000 people taking to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Sunday night that continued into Monday with a general strike to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the hostages home.

Talks to bring the hostages back and end the fighting in Gaza, where *******’s campaign to crush ****** has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and ******* more than 40,000 people, according to ************ figures, have stalled.

Hersh’s parents, Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin, have worked ceaselessly to raise awareness of the hostages’ plight since their son’s abduction, meeting officials, including U.S. President Joe Biden.

In a tearful speech at the National Democratic Convention in Chicago last month, Hersh’s mother directed Hersh to “stay strong, stay alive.”

On Saturday night, just before initial reports of his ****** began to spread, players from Hapoel Jerusalem, the soccer club he supported, took to the field for their first match of the season wearing ****** shirts with Hersh’s image against a red hourglass.

“I’ve been hoping and imagining Hersh coming back,” said Nadia Levene, a friend of the family.

“The most amazing thing is Rachel and Jon and their strength and how they went all around the world to save their son,” Levene said. “They couldn’t have done more.”

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Christina Fincher)

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