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IDF Recovers Six Hostages’ Bodies From Southern Gaza
Rachel Goldberg, US-Israeli mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists into Gaza while attending a music festival in southern Israel, holds photos of her son in their home, in Jerusalem, Oct. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
JNS.org – Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages from an underground tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza overnight Saturday.
The hostages were identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25.
“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by Israel Defense Forces troops in a tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
All six were kidnapped alive during the Hamas-led assault on the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7.
Daniel Hagari’s eyes say it all.
Our hearts are broken, but our spirit—our spirit will never be broken.
pic.twitter.com/9TyVYFkblK
— daniel hanukha (@israelifihther) September 1, 2024
On Oct. 7, Yerushalmi was working as a bartender at the Supernova music festival. She initially hid in a car, motionless alongside the bodies of friends who had been shot and killed. She then went into the bushes where she remained hidden for hours while on the phone with her family, and was taken by Hamas terrorists from there.
Gat was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri while visiting her parents for the Simchat Torah holiday. Hamas terrorists murdered her mother, Kinneret. Her brother Alon, sister-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat and niece Geffen were also captured. Her brother and niece were able to escape while her sister-in-law was released as part of weeklong ceasefire that freed 105 hostages in November.
Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped by Hamas from the Supernova festival. He tried to escape by car but realized that terrorists were setting up roadblocks and shooting at approaching vehicles. He instead ran to a nearby bomb shelter. Soon, Hamas terrorists converged on the tiny space, murdering most inside and kidnapping those who survived. Before he was taken, Goldberg-Polin’s dominant right arm was blown off at the elbow by a grenade. His parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, recently called for his release at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Lobanov was kidnapped from the music festival where he worked as head barman. His wife, Michal, was pregnant when he was taken and has since gave birth to the couple’s second child.
Danino was also kidnapped from the site of the festival. He had escaped but went back to help rescue Omer Shem Tov and siblings Itay and Maya Regev. The Regev siblings were released during November’s ceasefire while Omer and Ori remained in captivity.
Sarusi was kidnapped from the festival while his partner, Shahar Gindi, was murdered.
‘The blood of our brothers’
“Together with the entire nation, my wife and I share in the families’ deep mourning,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. “I would like to express deep appreciation for our forces, for the brave IDF soldiers and ISA [Shin Bet] fighters, who risked their lives in order to return our sons and daughters.
“I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our hostages and I say to their leaders: You will pay the price,” continued the premier. “We will not rest, nor will be silent. We will pursue you, we will find you and we will settle accounts with you.”
President Isaac Herzog said that “the heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces with the news. … On behalf of the State of Israel, I embrace their families with all my heart, and apologize for failing to bring them home safely.
“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,” added Herzog.
President Joe Biden stated that he was “devastated and outraged” after the body of U.S. dual citizen Goldberg-Polin was identified.
“Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” Biden vowed, adding that the United States “will keep working around the clock” to secure a ceasefire deal to release the rest of the hostages.
Netanyahu spoke with Lobanov’s parents, expressing deep sorrow and apologizing for not being able to save their son and the five other abductees alive, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
“I would like to tell you how much I regret and request forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha back alive,” he told Oxana and Grigory.
During the conversation, it was revealed that the prime minister’s military secretary Brig. Gen. Roman Gofman returned from Moscow on Sunday, where he discussed advancing a hostage deal and talked about Lobanov and other captives.
The PMO added that Netanyahu will talk with other relatives of the hostages killed during the day.
65-foot-deep
The hostages were found in a 65-foot-deep tunnel with gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of their bodies.
According to the autopsies performed overnight, they were murdered in the past 48 hours. One of the hostages showed signs of being tied up and they all showed evidence of neglect and having not bathed for a long time.
In addition, there was evidence that they sustained injuries during their kidnapping that were treated over time.
The hostages are believed to have been transported from the northern Gaza Strip to the south, where they were murdered.
Last month, the IDF and Shin Bet recovered the bodies of six other hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, from a tunnel in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces rescued a hostage alive from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, a father of 11 from the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Negev, was rescued from a tunnel in southern Gaza, less than a mile from where the six bodies were recovered.
A day later, the IDF recovered the body of a soldier who was killed fighting Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 invasion.
At the request of the soldier’s family, his name has not yet been made public.
Increasing concern for remaining hostages
“I heard rumors yesterday, then a close uncle of Carmel got a message confirming it,” Ronen Kohler, the cousin of Carmel Gat, told JNS on Sunday.
The last time that the family had received news of Carmel’s condition was through former captives who were released as part of a November weeklong ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. They said that Carmel had been teaching them yoga in a bid to keep their spirits up.
“Today, I am standing at the Namir/Yehuda Hamaccabi Junction with Carmel’s picture. The redemption of the captives is a Jewish, Israeli, international and humanitarian value. It is forbidden to ignore it and abandon them,” said Kohler.
“While it will not bring back those who are gone, it might help save others,” he added.
“I hope thousands of people will come out today to scream that human lives come first. We are not violent and we are not aggressive. We call on people to mobilize for the values that we raise our children on,” Kohler continued.
Hadas Zubary, the aunt of Hamas captive Naama Levy, expressed sympathy for the families who lost their loved ones.
“I can assure you we didn’t sleep much last night,” Zubary said. “We know these people’s families. I feel like they are my nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters, and it was devastating to see their names.
“We were sure that they would be here soon. Carmel, Eden and Hersh were supposed to be released early on in the prospective deal and there is no more hope for them. It’s devastating,” she added.
Zubary said that her concern for Naama grows with every passing day.
“We understand that we don’t know where the next tunnel that the army will approach is, and who else Hamas will shoot as they run away. The fear is even harder for us to absorb,” she said.
Daniel Lifshitz, whose grandfather Oded is being held by Hamas in Gaza, told JNS on Sunday, “It’s a very hard and difficult mood, it makes us fear that all the captives are in huge danger.
“Personally, I was in high school with Carmel Gat and I am close to her brother. The pain is unbearable,” he said.
“It means we can lose everyone really fast, and that is something pushing us to urge our government to make an agreement with Hamas-ISIS,” he continued.
“We should all see it as the worst war crime after kidnapping a kid [Hersh] who lost his arm from a grenade and succeeded somehow to survive for 328 days only to be executed,” he added.
Lifshitz called on Biden to act, “because bringing up a proposal at the end of May and having no developments since is unacceptable. They should have come to an agreement no matter the cost.
“I also call on Egyptian President [Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi to find a solution for the Philadelphi Corridor [on Gaza’s border with Sinai] so that there is no debate about choosing between saving lives and being present there,” Lifshitz said.
The post IDF Recovers Six Hostages’ Bodies From Southern Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.