Israel recovers bodies of 6 hostages, including a US citizen

The Israeli military said the bodies of six hostages, including an American citizen, held by the Hamas militant group have been recovered in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip.

The bodies were located on Saturday in an underground tunnel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on X early Sunday.

“They were all taken hostage on Oct. 7 and were murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization while in captivity in Gaza,” the IDF said.

IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said an initial assessment indicated that the hostages were “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”

The IDF named the victims as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.

After the death of Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen, was confirmed, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” by the news.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris deplored the actions of Hamas in Gaza. “With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands,” Harris said in a statement. “I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the “heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces with the news” of the killings.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A group representing the families of those held hostage in Gaza, the Hostages Families Forum, has demanded that Netanyahu “address the nation and take responsibility for abandoning the hostages.” The group said that all six captives were “murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture, and starvation in Hamas captivity,” the BBC reported.

The group also called for Israeli public to join in protests on Sunday in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel to call for a hostage exchange deal.