The Israeli army identifies the six hostages whose bodies were found in the southern Gaza Strip
The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had identified the identities of the six hostages found in an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
Their bodies were found on Saturday in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, and were brought back to Israel where they were formally identified, according to the Israeli army statement.
“The IDF and the Shin Bet internal security service, found and returned the bodies of the hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg Paulin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarousi and Uri Danino from a tunnel in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip,” the statement said.
Five of them – aged between 23 and 32 – were captured from the Nova music festival during a Hamas attack on October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant confirmed that the six whose bodies were returned were alive when they were captured and then “killed in cold blood by Hamas”.
Evidence of the lives of these captives has emerged, including a videotape of Hersh Goldberg Polin last April.
For its part, the Forum of Families of the “Hostages” held in the Gaza Strip confirmed that “if it weren’t for the delay, sabotage and excuses, it’s likely that those whose deaths we learned this morning would still be alive,” calling for the return of the prisoners.
The forum explained that Alexander Lobanov became a father during his time as a prisoner, to a five-month-old baby.
“The heart of the entire nation is broken,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement from his office.
On Sunday, Izzat al Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, held Israel responsible for the killing of the Israeli prisoners.
He said, “The one who bears responsibility for the death of prisoners held by the resistance is the Zionist occupation, which insists on continuing the war of genocide and evading reaching a ceasefire agreement”.
