What we know about the deaths of six hostages found in the Gaza Strip

The announcement of their deaths sparked fierce criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The bodies of six hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel were found in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, August 31, the Israeli army and US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday. The news of their deaths has sparked fierce criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from the hostages’ families.

They were recovered near Rafah

“Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas” In “a tunnel under the city of Rafah”in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli army announced in a statement. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the hostages were alive when they were abducted and then “killed in cold blood by Hamas”.

According to army spokesman Daniel Hagari, the hostages were killed “shortly before [l’armée] may join them”the newspaper reports HaaretzThe tunnel was located a kilometer from where another hostage, Kaid Farhan al-Qadi, was rescued last week, the source said. The autopsy carried out on the bodies in the morning revealed that the six hostages had been killed “point blank” “between Thursday and Friday morning”the Israeli Health Ministry announced Sunday afternoon. “The deaths likely occurred approximately 48 to 72 hours before the examination.”the ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

In the morning, a Palestinian Hamas official told AFP that “some” of them “were part of the list of hostages to be released that Hamas had approved” as part of negotiations for a ceasefire. The same source assured that “several” hostages “were alive and were killed by gunfire and bombardments from the occupier” Israeli.

Their bodies have all been identified.

Five of the six hostages were abducted from the Nova music festival by Hamas commandos in the deadly October 7 attack. Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 27, was probably one of the best-known hostages, the Guardian. He appeared in a video in April showing him without a left hand, which sparked protests in Israel. His parents met Joe Biden and the Pope.

Eden Yerushalmi was 24 years old and worked in bars and cafes in Tel Aviv, he recalls. Harretz. Alexander Lobanov, 33 years old, fromAshkelon, a father of two, worked as a bar manager at the Nova music festival. Almog Sarusi, 27, from Ra’anana, had stayed at the festival to care for his injured girlfriend before he was captured. She died of her injuries.

Ori Danino, 25, from Jerusalem, was about to start studying engineering. Finally, Carmel Gat, 40, was the only one not abducted at the music festival, but from Kibbutz Be’eri, where she was staying with her parents, who were killed in the attack.

Benjamin Netanyahu reacted sharply

The Israeli Prime Minister threatened on Sunday to “settle one’s account” to Hamas, in a recorded speech broadcast online. “He who kills hostages does not want an agreement” for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, he insisted. “We will pursue you, we will catch you and we will settle the score with you”he said to the Palestinian Islamist movement.

In a statement, US President Joe Biden said: “devastated and angry”promising that Hamas leaders “would pay” for their crimes, as reported by the New York TimesEarlier in the day, Hamas leader Ezzat Rishq said Israel was “the person responsible for death” hostages “because he persists in continuing his genocidal war and fleeing any ceasefire agreement”.

The Prime Minister is heavily criticized

Dozens of people responded to the call to demonstrate by the families of the hostages. According to Haaretzat least six demonstrations were organized, notably in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the morning. The opponent Benny Gantz For his part, he denounced the Prime Minister’s action and called on the Israelis to “to demonstrate” in a message posted on the social network X.

The Hostages’ Families Forum has called for further demonstrations and a general strike. “to bring the economy to a standstill”reports Times of Israel. “The entire nation will stand with the families of the hostages to protest the government’s continued neglect of the hostages”the collective explained in a statement on X. “We also call on world leaders to exert all possible pressure on Hamas to sign the agreement.”

Will the mobilization be followed by the Israelis? The Israel Business Forum, which brings together the largest companies in the country, said it was in favor of the strike in a statement quoted by Times of IsraelOn Sunday afternoon, the Histradout, the country’s main trade union, declared a “general strike” Monday to demand an agreement to release the hostages. “We must stop this abandonment of hostages. (…) Tomorrow, the entire Israeli economy will be on general strike,” Histadrut leader Arnon Bar-David said at a press conference.