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Israel Says It ‘Will Remember Those Who Spoke Up’ About Six Hostages Murdered by Hamas
Gwyneth Paltrow. Photo: IPA/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Israel released a statement on its official X/Twitter account on Monday thanking celebrities and others who have spoken out publicly on social media about the six hostages who were executed by Hamas terrorists and brought back to the Jewish state by the Israeli military for burial on Sunday.
“We will remember those of you who spoke up. We will remember those of you who remained silent,” the message said. “Thank you to those of you who have used your platforms to ensure the voices of the hostages are heard. To those of you who have not, it’s not too late.”
The post on X included screenshots of statements released by Israeli actress Gal Gadot and American actress and “Goop” founder Gwyneth Paltrow following the announcement about the murder of the hostages.
“They survived almost 11 months in captivity and then were murdered by Hamas. People who became an inseparable part of our hearts, families who waited so long for a different end, the heart is broken into pieces today,” Gadot wrote in a post on her Instagram Story, before calling for the release of the remaining 101 hostages still in Gaza. In a separate Instagram Story, she posted a collage of pictures of the six killed hostages and added a broken heart emoji.
Paltrow, whose father was Jewish, wrote on her Instagram Story: “To the families of each hostage whose life was stolen, I have thought of you every day for 11 months, but today I sent you my heart. #endtheviolence.”
The IDF recovered overnight on Saturday the bodies of the six hostages from an underground tunnel in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. 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. They were found with gunshot wounds to the head and other parts of their bodies, and autopsies revealed that they were murdered in the past 48 hours. They were each kidnapped alive by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during the latter’s deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Other Hollywood figures who expressed sorrow and outrage following the news about the six hostages who were found murdered in Gaza included Jewish actors Ben Stiller and Debra Messing.
Stiller wrote in a post on X: “Sending love and support to the families of the hostages who lives were lives were taken [sic] so brutally. So many people are sharing this pain. My family’s heart goes out to you.”
Messing posted a video on social media in which she cried while talking about the deaths of the hostages. “The collective grief, the agony that comes with the news that Hersh and those five beautiful souls were executed ISIS style in the last two days is unbearable,” she said.
“There is no moral equivalency,” she added. “These are monsters, and every American should be grieving today, because Hersh did not have to die. The six of them did not have to die. And to all of you people who posted, ‘All Eyes on Rafah,’ pressuring not to go into Rafah, which is where they were, is so painful. So, to all of you, ‘All Eyes on Rafah,’ you did this.”
Messing was referring to a social media campaign opposing Israel’s military operations targeting Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where the terrorist group still had multiple battalions. The six hostages were found in a tunnel in Rafah.
American music producer Scooter Braun said in an Instagram post that in honor of the “strength of the family members for the last 330 days” he would wear the number 331 on his clothing. “All 6 of these innocent civilians will be honored and remembered. All 6 of these souls were an entire world,” he wrote. “May their memory be a blessing…FOREVER!”
Braun also spoke on Sunday at a vigil in Los Angeles in honor of the killed hostages. During his speech, he condemned what he called hypocrisy in the music industry for staying silent about the victims of the Nova music festival and added regarding the murdered hostages: “For all six of them, I’m so sorry that we were not loud enough.”
The post Israel Says It ‘Will Remember Those Who Spoke Up’ About Six Hostages Murdered by Hamas 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.