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IIsrael says its forces have found the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The bodies were found on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza area of Rafah, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
The IDF released a list of hostages, including Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt. Ori Danino.
Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hajari said the initial assessment was that they were “brutally killed by Hamas terrorists shortly before our arrival.”
Senior Hamas official Izzat Reshke insisted Israel was responsible for their deaths because it refused to sign a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not rest until the killers were brought to justice.
He also said in a statement that his government was committed to reaching a deal to release those still imprisoned and protect the country’s security.
He added: “Whoever killed the hostages didn’t want a deal.”
A group representing the families of Gaza hostages called on Netanyahu to “address the nation and take responsibility for abandoning the hostages.”
The Hostage Families Forum said all six captives were “killed in their final days after being held captive by Hamas for nearly 11 months, subjected to ill-treatment, torture and starvation”.
“The delay in signing the agreement led to their deaths and the deaths of many other hostages,” they added in a statement.
The group also announced plans to “bring the country to a standstill” on Sunday and asked the Israeli public to join protests in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other parts of Israel, calling for a hostage exchange deal.
Last week, a Bedouin Arab man rescued by Israeli forces in Gaza urged Israel to reach an agreement with Hamas to release all remaining hostages.
After returning to his village in southern Israel on Wednesday, El Kady said his happiness was “incomplete as long as there are detainees on both sides.”
In a statement announcing the death on Sunday morning, the IDF said the bodies had been “transported back to Israeli territory.”
“They were taken hostage and killed by the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.”
The statement also said their families had been notified.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the “news of their killing breaks the heart of the entire nation”.
He added: “On behalf of the State of Israel, I extend my heartfelt condolences to their families and apologize for not being able to bring them home safely.”
Meanwhile, after the death of US citizen Goldberg-Pollin was confirmed, US President Joe Biden said he was “shocked and outraged” by the news.
“Hersh was one of the innocent people who was brutally attacked while attending the Israel Peace Music Festival on October 7,” he said in a statement.
“He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’ brutal massacre. He just turned 23. He plans to travel the world.
“I got to know his parents, Jon and Rachel. They were brave and wise and determined, even through unimaginable hardships,” Biden said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed shock at the “brutal and senseless killing of six hostages by Hamas in Gaza”.
“Hamas must immediately release all hostages and all parties must immediately agree to a ceasefire to end the suffering,” he added in a post on X.
The Israeli military launched an operation to eliminate Hamas in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
Since then, more than 40,738 people have died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.
Mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a ceasefire deal under which Hamas would release the 97 hostages it remains holding, at least 33 of whom are believed dead, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The United Nations led a multi-day polio vaccination campaign in Gaza earlier this summer after the potentially deadly virus was found in wastewater samples from the country.
Israel and Hamas agreed to three pauses in fighting starting Sunday so officials can vaccinate about 640,000 children under 10
Earlier, last month, a 10-month-old Palestinian child was diagnosed with Ebola, the first case of Ebola infection in the country in 25 years.
Source: BBC News
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