Bodies of Hamas hostages present in Gaza with combating set to pause
The bodies of six Hamas hostages have been found in Gaza, as fighting is set to pause to allow the polio vaccine roll out.
The hostages’ remains – including those of a 23-year-old American man – were recovered Saturday ‘from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area’ and formally identified in Israel, a military statement said.
Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: ‘According to our initial estimation, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short time before we reached them.’
The military named them as Hersh Goldberg-Polin – an Israeli-American – Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Carmel Gat, 39, Almog Sarusi, 26, Alex Lubnov, 26, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino, 25.
They were among 251 hostages seized during the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Palestinian militants.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin is among six hostages whose bodies were recovered Saturday. He was among victims taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 massacre
Hersh’s left forearm, his dominant arm, was blown off during a grenade attack before he was taken captive by Hamas terrorists
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, are pictured with their son
Magdy Daher, Director General of Primary Care at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza attends a press conference to announce the launch of a polio vaccination campaign
Children receive vaccination at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on August 31
Around 100 hostages remain in captivity, dozens of whom the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog took to X, formerly Twitter, to pay tribute to those that devastatingly lost their lives.
‘The heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces… On behalf of the State of Israel, I embrace their families with all my heart, and apologize for failing to bring them home safely’.
Herzog also defiantly confirmed that Israel will continue to ‘fight relentlessly’ against Hamas.
‘The blood of our brothers cries out to us. Our sisters and brothers are still there enduring Hell. The supreme covenant between the state and its citizens is to ensure their safety. We have the sacred and urgent mission to bring them home,’ he ended the post.
US President Joe Biden also shared a message, saying he was ‘devastated and outraged’ by the deaths.
‘It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,’ he said.
‘And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.’
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it ‘bows its head in mourning’ for the latest deaths and called for a ceasefire deal.
‘Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive,’ the campaign group said.
Senior Hamas official Izzat El-Reshiq said that Israel, in its refusal to sign a ceasefire deal, was responsible for the deaths.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign since October 7 has reduced Gaza to ruins, devastating water and sanitation facilities, while disease has spread.
Following the first confirmed polio case in the besieged Palestinian territory in 25 years, a Gaza health official said vaccinations began Saturday ahead of a wider campaign.
The World Health Organisation says Israel has agreed to a series of three-day ‘humanitarian pauses’ to facilitate the polio vaccination drive, which an international aid worker said would start in earnest Sunday.
UN agencies and local health officials in the Gaza Strip are trying to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio.
Children receive vaccination at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on August 31
A nurse holds a vial containing vaccine at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip
At least 90 per cent of children under 10 must be immunised in a short time frame for this to work, the WHO said.
It follows the discovery of the first confirmed case of polio in 25 years in Gaza.
A UN expert said there could be a wider regional outbreak if the virus is not dealt with.
Baby Abdulrahman Abu Judyan was recently diagnosed and is now partly paralysed in one leg.
His mother Niveen told the BBC he was supposed to receive his vaccination on October 7, the day of the Hamas attack which killed 1,200 people.
‘I wasn’t expecting this. Now he may not be able to crawl or walk and the child was left without proper medical care,’ his mother said.
Since the attack, Niveen and her nine children have moved five times and struggle to find clean drinking water – but sewage flows through the street by their tent.
Since discovering the virus in wastewater samples taken in June, UN agencies have tried to implement an emergency mass vaccination programme.
Palestinian health officials say there will be more than 400 fixed vaccination sites and more than 2,000 workers are helping in the effort, who are mostly locals.
Children must receive two drops of oral polio vaccine in two rounds, the second to be administered four weeks after the first to prevent mutation.
The launch of a polio vaccination campaign for children is announced at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip yesterday
Bassam Abu Hamad, Technical Director of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza attends a press conference to announce the launch of a polio vaccination campaign
The polio variant that triggered this latest outbreak is itself a mutated virus from an oral polio vaccine.
The vaccine contains a weakened virus which in very rare cases can evolve into a new form.
While fierce fighting raged ahead of the hoped-for pauses, Israel pressed on with a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank.
As Palestinian militants battled Israeli troops in Jenin refugee camp, a local official said soldiers had destroyed most of the streets while power and water had been cut off.
Clashes and explosions persisted in Jenin, and both the health ministry and the Red Crescent reported two more Palestinians killed there.
The body of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was recovered from a tunnel under the Gazan city of Rafah on Saturday, 10 months after his abduction during the atrocity that killed 1,200.
‘With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,’ the family said in a statement.
‘The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.’
Confirmation of each death was shared by Israel on X.
Alex Lobanov, 26, was the head barman at the festival
Almog Sarusi, 26, was enjoying the rave when Hamas terrorists attacked
Eden Yerushalmi was also abducted from the Nova music festival
Carmel Gat was visiting her family in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7
Ori Danino was taken captive by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival on October 7
Israeli officials said it took ‘many hours’ to identify the remains of the three men and three women recovered, Axios reported.
Five of those who were recovered had been attending the Nova music festival when Hamas terrorists began slaughtering festivalgoers, while taking others hostage. Gat was at her family kibbutz when she was captured.
Goldberg-Polin lost his arm when a grenade exploded during the carnage.
Israeli officials said it took ‘many hours’ to identify the remains of the three men and three women recovered, Axios reported.
Five of those who were recovered had been attending the Nova music festival when Hamas terrorists began slaughtering festivalgoers, while taking others hostage. Gat was at her family kibbutz when she was captured.
Goldberg-Polin lost his arm when a grenade exploded during the carnage.
Just last month, Goldberg-Polin’s parents Jon and Rachel addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and pleaded for their son’s safe return.
Speaking through tears, Rachel said: ”Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you, stay strong, survive.’
Goldberg-Polin was born in Berkeley, California. His family moved to Richmond, Virginia, then immigrated to Israel in 2008, when Goldberg-Polin was seven.
The Hamas victim was said to have been working on a soccer program intended to bring Israeli and Palestinian children together at the time of his abduction.
The brutal Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7 when the Palestinian Islamist group attacked an Israeli music festival in southern Israel, killing 1,200 and snatching around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
At least 40,691 Palestinians have now been killed and 94,060 injured in Israel’s counter offensives in Gaza, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
