Israel’s Military Says Hostages Were Killed by Hamas

[Pelican Press 0]

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*******’s Military Says Hostages Were ******* by ******

The ******** military said on Sunday that six bodies found in Gaza were hostages who had been “brutally murdered” by ******, setting off a wave of nationwide grief mixed with anger.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military’s chief spokesman, said the bodies had been recovered a day earlier from a tunnel underneath the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, close to where a seventh ********, Farhan al-Qadi, was found alive last week.

“They were brutally murdered by ****** terrorists a short time before we reached them,” Admiral Hagari said.

*******’s health ministry said later on Sunday that a forensic examination showed the hostages had been shot at close range sometime between Thursday and Friday morning.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “shocked to the depths” of his soul by what he called the “coldblooded *******” of the hostages.

“The heart of the entire nation is torn,” he said in a statement.

In an initial statement, ****** did not directly address the accusations, but said responsibility for the deaths lay with *******, which it blamed for the lack of an agreement to stop the fighting in Gaza. ****** later claimed in a separate statement, without providing evidence, that the hostages were ******* by the ******** military’s bullets.

Some people in ******* also angrily blamed the government for the deaths, calling for protests over the government’s inability to secure a deal to bring the hostages home.

******** military officials had said on Saturday that six bodies were found during a military operation, without specifying whether they were hostages’ bodies.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a spokesman for the ******** military, said Sunday on CNN that the grim discovery was not the result of a “specific mission to release hostages,” but that ******** forces had “some idea of hostages being held in the area.”

The ***** were identified as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino. They ranged in age from 23 to 40, according to a group representing families of hostages.

Five of those captured had been at a dance music festival in southern *******. The sixth, Ms. Gat, was taken from the nearby village of Be’eri.

Before the ******** military’s announcement, President Biden

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saying that ******* had found the bodies of six hostages, identifying one as Mr. Goldberg-Polin, a dual ******** ********* citizen whose parents had campaigned around the world for the release of the captives.

“I am devastated and outraged. Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in *******,” Mr. Biden said. “He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during ******’s savage massacre. He had just turned 23.”

Mr. Biden vowed to keep working toward an agreement to secure the release of the hostages. But he also issued a warning: “Make no mistake, ****** leaders will pay for these *******.”

Mr. Goldberg-Polin was among the roughly 250 people who were abducted by ****** and its allies during the Oct. 7 ******* on *******. He was last seen in a video released by ****** in April.

On Sunday, the Goldberg-Polin family

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The ******** military said that the bodies of the six hostages were returned to ******** territory.

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

Adam Rasgon contributed reporting.

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#Israels #Military #Hostages #******* #******

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