Israel retrieves bodies of 6 hostages, including US citizen

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The bodies of six hostages, including that of a young US citizen, have been retrieved from Gaza after they were killed “shortly” before they could be rescued, Israel’s military said.

The bodies of Carmel Gat, who was kidnapped from the Be’eri kibbutz; Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American whose parents had lobbied US President Joe Biden for his return; and four others kidnapped from the Nova music festival — Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino — were found in a tunnel in Rafah and brought back to Israeli territory by the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday morning.

“According to our initial assessment, they were cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog apologised to the families for “failing to bring” their loved ones home safely. The news prompted outrage from the White House and demands for widescale protests to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into accepting a US-backed deal for the release of the remaining 101 hostages, many presumed dead, and for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that kidnapped roughly 240 people on October 7, blamed the US and Israel for the prisoners’ deaths because of their delays in negotiating a hostage deal, according to a statement by one of its senior leaders on Telegram.

The war was triggered on October 7 after Hamas launched a cross-border raid, killing 1,200 people in Israel that day, according to official tallies. Israel’s subsequent war with Hamas has led to the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and a 10-month hostage crisis with no resolution in sight.

“I am devastated and outraged,” Biden said. “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. We will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”

Goldberg-Polin had been forced to appear in a hostage video released in April that showed him with his left arm severed and pleading for medical care. His parents have become prominent advocates for the release of the Israeli hostages. Gat, who was 40, was said by other released hostages to have been leading yoga and meditation sessions to keep up their spirits.