The Israeli military claims that the hostages, who ranged in age from 23 to 40, were “brutally murdered” just before Israeli commandos discovered them on Saturday night in an underground tunnel.
Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Ori Danino were returned to Israel with their bodies.
They were among the 250 hostages captured on October 7, the day of the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas against Israel, which resulted in 1,200 Israeli casualties and started the conflict.
Israel’s following military onslaught in Gaza has resulted in at least 40,691 Palestinian deaths and 94,060 injuries, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.
We examine the identities of the six Israeli hostages.
Mr. Goldberg-Polin, an American-born resident of Israel, was abducted by Hamas as he was attending the Nova music festival. The Hostages Families Forum claims that he suffered injuries to his arm during the assault.
Hamas published a video on April 24th that appeared to show him without a hand. News has not verified this.
He was characterized as “an avid fan of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team” and the older brother of two sisters.
