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    • Body of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin found in Gaza
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    Body of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin found in Gaza

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    Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was one of six hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza whose bodies were recovered by the Israeli military, his family and the White House said Sunday morning.

    The bodies were found in a tunnel under the town of Rafah, near the border with Egypt. The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families, said they had been “killed in recent days, after surviving nearly 11 months of abuse, torture and starvation in Hamas captivity.”

    Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the six prisoners were killed by Hamas “shortly before we reached them.” He did not specify how they died. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for not bringing them home alive.

    Goldberg-Polin, 23, a California native, was one of more than 200 people captured by militants in the Oct. 7 attack on Israeli border communities that also killed nearly 1,200 people. He was taken at gunpoint from the Nova music festival. During the ordeal, part of his arm was blown off by a grenade, his friends previously told USA TODAY.

    “With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated by the passing of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks all of you for your love and support and requests your privacy at this time,” the family said in a statement.

    The Israeli military named the other hostages as Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25.

    Developments:

    ∎ White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting today with the families of American hostages held by Hamas-led militants in Gaza, Axios reporter Barak Ravid reported on social media, citing a “source with direct knowledge.”

    ∎ The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, says he is “shocked” by the hostage killings. “We stand with all the hostages,” he said.

    ∎ British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the killing of six hostages in Gaza by Hamas “appalling and senseless. My thoughts are with their loved ones at this terrible time.” He urged both sides to agree to a ceasefire and release all hostages “immediately to end the suffering.”

    In a statement, President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” by the news. “Hersh was among innocent people brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace,” he said.

    Biden paid tribute to Goldberg-Polin in his statement.

    “He had planned to travel the world,” Biden said. “I’ve gotten to know his parents, Jon and Rachel, who have been courageous, wise and steadfast, even in the face of the unimaginable. They have been tireless and unwavering champions of their son and of all hostages held in unfair circumstances.”

    Vice President Kamala Harris called Hamas an “evil terrorist organization” and said in a statement that the militant group now has “more American blood on its hands.” Hamas must be eliminated and banned from governing Gaza, she said.

    “I strongly condemn Hamas’s continued brutality, and so must the entire world,” the statement said. “From the massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, the taking of hostages and these murders, Hamas’s depravity is evident and horrific.”

    Netanyahu expressed his “deep regret” to Oxana and Grigory Lobanov, the parents of Alexander Lobanov, that Israeli forces were unable to rescue their son and the other hostages.

    “I want to tell you how sorry I am and ask for your forgiveness for not being able to bring Sasha back alive,” Netanyahu told the couple in a telephone conversation, according to a statement from his office. Netanyahu planned to speak to the families of all the hostages whose bodies were found in the tunnel on Sunday, though Israel’s Channel 12 reported that two of the families refused to take Netanyahu’s calls.

    Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said the city would participate in a nationwide strike on Monday in support of the hostage families. In a social media post, he wrote that the Israeli government had “abandoned” them.

    “But the State of Israel is us,” Huldai said. “As a sign of solidarity with the abductees and their families, the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality is joining the strike. … We will allow all female and male employees to go out and support the families’ struggle. Go to the streets.”

    Kfar Saba and Givatayim were among the municipalities that indicated no services would be provided.

    The discovery of the bodies comes as Israel continues its devastating assault on Gaza amid intense international pressure for a ceasefire. At least 40,691 Palestinians have been killed and 94,060 wounded in Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.

    In recent days, Israel has stepped up military operations in northern West Bank cities, fueling fears that the war in Gaza could spread to other Palestinian areas. The specter of a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran, which backs the militant group, hangs over it.

    Speaking to reporters in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday, Biden said he was “still optimistic” that a ceasefire could be reached to end the conflict. “I think we’re on the verge of a deal,” he said. “It’s time for this war to end.”

    Biden added that “people continue to meet. We think we can get the deal done, they’ve all said they agree on the principles.”

    Netanyahu appeared to downplay the chances of a deal on Sunday.

    “In recent days, while Israel has been conducting intensive negotiations with the mediator in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal, Hamas continues to steadfastly refuse all proposals. Worse still, at exactly the same time, it killed six of our hostages. Whoever kills hostages does not want a deal,” he said.

    The discovery of the bodies also comes a week after another hostage captured during the October 7 Hamas rampage was freed following a “complex” rescue operation in southern Gaza. Hagari, the Israeli military spokesman, said Qaid Farhan Alkadi, a member of Israel’s Bedouin Arab minority, was alone when he was rescued from an underground tunnel thanks to extensive intelligence on its location.

    Hagari said the hostages freed on Sunday were about a mile away from Farhan Alkadi.

    The Hostages Families Forum said eight hostages had been rescued alive by Israeli military operations in recent months. In November, a deal between Israel and Hamas saw the release of 105 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

    Israel believes there are still 101 hostages in Gaza, including at least 27 who are presumed dead. With Goldberg-Polin’s death, that means there are now seven American hostages held in Gaza.

    At least 48 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, with fighting also raging in the central and southern areas of the enclave ahead of a planned polio vaccination campaign.

    The United Nations was to vaccinate 640,000 children in the region against polio, basing its action on daily eight-hour lulls in fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants in specific areas.

    Goldberg-Polin’s parents recently spoke about their son during an appearance at the Democratic National Convention. They shared details about his passion for music, the Hapoel Jerusalem soccer team and his sense of humor. They also recounted the heroism of his best friend, with whom he attended the Nova music festival.

    As the Hamas attack unfolded, Goldberg-Polin, his friend Aner Shapira and more than two dozen other festivalgoers sought refuge in a bomb shelter. Shapira, 22, an off-duty soldier, tried to protect them by standing in the doorway and catching and throwing back several grenades that the attackers threw in their direction. He threw back six grenades in all. The seventh fatally wounded him.

    “He stood there like a wall for the others. This was our man. Not for himself, but for the others,” Liat Netzer, the mother of a friend of Shapira’s, told USA TODAY at his funeral in Jerusalem in October.

    Netzer’s husband, Yaakov, said Goldberg-Polin was wounded in the hand in the grenade attack that killed Shapira, but was still able to walk. Other friends attending the festival saw him and several others being led away by Hamas and lifted into the back of a pickup truck.

    The first definitive evidence that Goldberg-Polin survived despite his serious injuries came to light in April, when Hamas released an undated video of him sitting in a chair and addressing the camera. His hair is cropped short, and as he speaks, he occasionally gestures with his left arm, revealing a healed stump where his hand should be.

    In the video, which runs just under three minutes, Goldberg-Polin criticizes Netanyahu for not reaching a ceasefire agreement with Hamas and tells his parents that he misses them and loves them very much.

    “I expect and hope to see you again very soon, after this tragedy is over,” he said.

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