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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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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.