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The bodies of six hostages held by Hamas were recovered from an underground tunnel in Gaza, Israel’s military announced Sunday.
Among the more than 200 people taken during the October 7 cross-border attack, five were abducted from an Israeli music festival, and one from a nearby farming community. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) found the bodies in a Hamas-run tunnel in Rafah, stating that the hostages were “brutally” murdered shortly before troops reached them.
The recovered bodies were found about half a mile from where another hostage had been rescued alive days earlier, according to an IDF spokesperson. Three of the six hostages were expected to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, two Israeli officials told CNN.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, and Carmel Gat were set to be freed as part of a “humanitarian category” in a framework agreed upon by Israel and Hamas in early July. Still, one official noted, “Our Prime Minister delayed it.”
Donald Trump criticized President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the deaths of six Hamas hostages, blaming their “poor” leadership. After the Israeli military confirmed the deaths, including US-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Trump claimed on Truth Social that he could have secured the hostages’ safety if he were still president.
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