Initially, only the discovery of several bodies was announced. The relatives of the hostages feared the worst. Now there is sad certainty.
The Israeli army has recovered the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip. The military officially announced this early this morning on its Telegram channel. The previous evening, the army had initially announced the discovery of several bodies, without giving any further details.
After hours of checking the identities of the bodies, there is now certainty. “We all wake up to the terrible news that six more dead hostages have been found, killed by Hamas,” wrote the German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, on the X platform.
The six murdered people were found in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area in the south of the contested Gaza Strip and were brought to Israel, the army said. All six victims were taken hostage in the Islamist Hamas terror attack on October 7 last year and kidnapped to the Gaza Strip. “According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari in the morning.
The victims are four men – Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Alexander Lobanov (32), Almog Sarusi (27) and Ori Danino (25) – and two women – Carmel Gat (40) and Eden Jeruschalmi (24). According to the forum of relatives of the abducted, at least five of the six victims were abducted on October 7 from the Nova music festival in the Negev desert, which took place near the border with the Gaza Strip.
In total, terrorists from Hamas and other groups kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel that day and brought them to the sealed-off coastal area. During a week-long ceasefire at the end of November, Hamas released 105 hostages. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from prisons. A few hostages were freed by the Israeli army – sometimes at a high cost to the Palestinian civilian population in these military operations, for which Israel is internationally criticized as much as for the Gaza war itself. It is not known how many of the hostages remaining in Gaza are still alive.
Prospects of success of talks in Cairo unclear
It is unclear whether a further agreement on a ceasefire and the release of abductees can be reached. For some time now, the USA, Egypt and Qatar have been holding mediation talks in Cairo on an agreement that would provide for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages. However, the talks have stalled. Israel and Hamas are refusing to negotiate directly with the other side.
The main point of contention at present is the question of how long Israeli troops can remain stationed at the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt. Israel’s security cabinet recently decided to maintain control of the corridor.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
