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Jerusalem: Israel has found the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said on Sunday (Sept 1), who were apparently killed shortly before Israeli troops arrived.
“According to our initial estimates, they were brutally killed by Hamas terrorists shortly before our arrival,” military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hajari told reporters at a briefing.
He said the bodies of Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Pollin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino had been found underground in the city of Rafah and returned to Israel.
“The hearts of the entire nation are broken,” said President Isaac Herzog, whose post was largely ceremonial. “My heartfelt condolences to their families and my apology for not being able to bring them home safely.”
There was no immediate comment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces pressure from both inside and outside the country to reach a ceasefire that would include the release of remaining hostages.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the allegations.
U.S. President Joe Biden is closely following the fate of the hostages taken on October 7, saying the six included Israeli-American Goldberg Pollin.
“I am utterly shocked and outraged,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
Israeli news agency Hagari said a few days ago, Bedouin hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi was rescued about a kilometer away in southern Israel.
He said that after finding Arcadi, troops were told to be careful because there might be other hostages in the area, but there has been no information about their exact location.
The six bodies recovered were part of a group of about 250 hostages taken by Hamas in a massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7 that sparked the Gaza war.
According to Israeli statistics, about 1,200 people were killed in the attacks.
Since then, Israel’s military offensive on Gaza has killed at least 40,691 Palestinians and injured 94,060, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
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