CNN
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Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the most recognizable faces of the heartbreaking hostage crisis that sparked the war between Israel and Hamas, has died, ending his parents’ tireless and high-profile international campaign to free him.

The 23-year-old Israeli-American’s ordeal has become symbolic of the pain and torment of the more than 100 hostages still held in Gaza, with banners and murals demanding their release often plastered across Jerusalem and around the world.

His death, announced in a family statement on Sunday, has sparked fresh grief and outrage among the hostages’ families, who fear time is running out for their loved ones captured by Hamas as pressure mounts on the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire deal.

Goldberg-Polin, one of hundreds of young people who attended the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7, was forced to hide in a bomb shelter with his friends when Hamas militants launched a surprise attack, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli counts.

As Hamas militants began tossing grenades into the bunker, Goldberg-Polin rushed to throw them out before his arm was blown off from the elbow down, according to his friend’s firsthand account. When the gunfire stopped, Goldberg-Polin was forcibly taken away by Hamas gunmen. That was the last time his friend saw him.

The first sign of life from Goldberg-Polin came in April, six months after his capture.

He was shown in a hostage video released by Hamas with part of his left arm missing and his hair cropped short. In Hebrew, he said he had been “here for almost 200 days” and called on his parents to stay strong for him.

More than four months later, the young Israeli-American’s death was confirmed, according to a statement from his family released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

“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 the statement.

CNN has contacted the family.

The Israeli military said his body was found “brutally murdered” along with five other hostages in Hamas-run tunnels beneath the city of Rafah and that they were killed “shortly” before troops could reach them.

Listen to what Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents said at the Democratic National Convention

Goldberg-Polin’s fate had become more inextricably linked to the fate of the hostages and U.S. policy on the Israel-Gaza war. His parents were among the most outspoken hostage families, pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal to secure their relatives’ return. They also met regularly with senior U.S. officials in Washington to plead the hostages’ case.

Days before his death was confirmed, Goldberg-Polin’s parents made an emotional plea for their son’s return at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“This is a political convention. But the fact that our only son and all the cherished hostages should be home is not a political issue. It’s a humanitarian issue,” said Goldberg-Polin’s father, Jon Polin.

Since their son was kidnapped, “we’ve been living on a different planet,” said his mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin. “Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can imagine the fear and anguish that Jon and I and all the hostage families are going through.”

Their speech was greeted with prolonged applause and chants of “bring him home” by the thousands of Democratic delegates at the convention, echoing a phrase that has become a mantra in Israel for the families of the hostages.

The couple wore pieces of tape with the number 320 on them, the number of days their son was held hostage.

Goldberg-Polin was born in Oakland, California and immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of 7.

He was the older brother of two sisters and was, according to his mother, a “cheerful, relaxed, good-humored, respectful and curious person” who loved football and music.

“He’s been obsessed with geography and travel since he was a little boy,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin said during her DNC speech. “His bedroom is filled with atlases, globes, maps, and National Geographic magazines.”

Goldberg-Polin had planned to take a world tour in December 2023 after the music festival, Rachel Goldberg-Polin previously told CNN, but he never returned.

On October 7, he and his best friend Honor went to the Nova music festival in a rural area near the Gaza-Israel border to celebrate his 23rd birthday, his mother said.

“As the rockets began falling, Hersh, Honor and 27 other young festival-goers took refuge in a five-by-eight-foot shelter. Terrorists began throwing grenades into the shelter, and Honor stood in the doorway and deflected seven of the grenades before the eighth killed him,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin said.

A young woman who was in the same shelter at the time had earlier told his parents that Goldberg-Polin, who was left-handed, helped throw grenades from the bunker before his left arm was blown off at the elbow. He was later taken into a truck by gunmen and driven away, witnesses told his parents.

Footage taken on the day of the attack showed Goldberg-Polin being led out of the shelter – his hand blown off and a bone sticking out of his wrist – and thrown into the back of a truck with four others.

The first time Goldberg-Polin’s parents saw the video was after an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in October. The couple had been recalling eyewitness accounts of their son being captured during a live TV interview, when Cooper realized he had heard details of the story before.

Days earlier, an Israeli soldier at the Nova festival site had shown Cooper the video. During the interview, Cooper realized that the young man in the video was the son of his interviewees.

Not wanting to announce the news live on TV, Cooper contacted the couple after the interview and asked if they would like to see the video. They later confirmed that the man in the video was their son and asked to share the video more widely.

The recent hostage deaths pose an additional challenge for the Biden administration to push US ally Israel to find a way out of the devastating war in Gaza, which has inflamed global public opinion and repeatedly threatens to escalate into a full-scale regional conflict.

It also puts pressure on Netanyahu to strike a deal amid growing fears that more prisoners will die and the ongoing destruction in Gaza could spark a wider regional war.

According to the enclave’s Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

“There is a surplus of agony on all sides of the tragic conflict in the Middle East in a competition of pain. There are no winners,” Jonathan Polin said at the DNC last month.

“In a heated Middle East, we know what can most immediately relieve pressure and bring calm to the entire region: A deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of innocent civilians in Gaza. The time is now.”