An initial probe by the IDF into the deaths of six Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip indicates that they were murdered shortly after the IDF located them, Channel 12 News reports. Last night, the IDF recovered the bodies of the six from a tunnel in the Rafah area. It is not able to say exactly how long ago the hostages were murdered by their captors, and puts the time at between one and three days. The National Center of Forensic Medicine will determine the time of death after examining the bodies.
The six have been named as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin (a US citizen), Alexander Lubanov, Almog Seroussi, and Ori Danino. Carmel Gat was abducted from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, while the others were taken from the Nova music festival that day near Kibbutz Re’em.
The tunnel from which the bodies were recovered was about a kilometer away from the one from which Israeli hostage Qaid Farhan al-Qadi was rescued by the IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) last Tuesday. The IDF said at the time that it believed that other hostages were being held in the area.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement: "After eleven months of abandonment of the hostages by the government of Israel and its head, the committee of the hostages’ families announces that the abandonment is over. The families of the hostages call on the public at large to come to a mass demonstration, to bring the country to a complete halt, and to call for carrying out a deal for the release of the hostages now."
Histadrut chairperson Arnon Ben-David is under pressure from the hostages' families and and from senior businesspeople to call a general strike in support of a release deal. Further meeting between Ben-David and the hostages' families are expected to take place in the course of the day.
On Thursday evening, the Israeli government voted in favor of a resolution proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that IDF forces will remain on the Gaza side of the Philadelphi Corridor, the line of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, under which Hamas has for years smuggled weaponry and supplies through a network of tunnels. Hamas insists on Israeli withdrawal from the corridor in any deal. The resolution was opposed by Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, with Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir abstaining.
Gallant said this morning, "The diplomatic-security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the resolution passed on Thursday. It’s too late for the hostages who were murdered in cold blood. We must bring home the hostages who are left."
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett said, "There are way of balancing between the security needs of the State of Israel and its moral obligation to bring back the hostages. Chaotic and confrontational conduct of affairs and political considerations have intruded into our Holy of Holies. Anyone who flees from responsibility is not a leader."
Commenting on the deaths of the six hostages, US President Joe Biden said he was "devastated and outraged", especially by the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. "It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages," Biden said.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 1, 2024.
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