Israel: Anger mounts after 6 Gaza hostages found dead

The Israeli military said on Sunday it had discovered the dead bodies of six hostages who had been in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks, sparking wide condemnation and fury.

While several world leaders have condemned the hostages' killing, the news created a wave of anger against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside Israel.

The families of the hostages and several Israeli politicians have called for a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, with plans for protests and strikes to pressure the Cabinet.

What do we know about the recovered hostages?

Israel identified the bodies of six hostages found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and brought them to Israel, the military said on Sunday.

The army named them as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov and Carmel Gat. Five were abducted at a music festival during the October 7 Hamas attacks. The sixth hostage, Gat, was taken from the nearby farming community of Be'eri.

"According to our initial estimation, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short time before we reached them," military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in a briefing.

A senior Hamas official told the French AFP news agency that several of the six hostages had been "approved" for release in the event of a truce deal.

Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the German government, the EU, the US and some Arab states.

International condemnation pours in

US President Joe Biden said he was "devastated and outraged" at the news of the bodies recovered from a tunnel in Gaza that included Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Biden vowed: "Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages."

US Vice President Kamala Harris also condemned the hostages' death. Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, said she and Biden would never waver in their commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among the best-known hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, during their unprecedented attack on southern Israel that left 1,200 killed. Israeli military operations in Gaza in retaliation have been ongoing ever since, with over 40,600 deaths reported by health authorities in the Hamas-run enclave.

An avid football fan of top-flight Israeli side Hapoel Jerusalem, Goldberg-Polin had visited Hapoel's sister club, Werder Bremen, in Germany on numerous occasions.

The Werder Bremen football club mourned his death in a statement.

"Since 7 October, we have gradually come to know Hersh as an empathetic young man who loves football and life and has wished for nothing but peaceful coexistence for all people — especially in the Middle East and Jerusalem."

The top diplomat of the European Union, Josep Borrell, also condemned the Israeli hostages' killing, saying he was "horrified" by it. 

Hamas militants took about 250 people hostage in the October 7 attacks. A November deal resulted in the release of 105 hostages.

Before news broke about the bodies of hostages recovered in Gaza on Sunday, Israel said it believed some 108 captives were still held in Gaza. About one-third of them were believed to be dead.

Growing anger against Netanyahu's government

"Whoever murders hostages does not want a deal," Netanyahu said in a video message after the recovery of the hostages' bodies.

"This is a difficult day for us," he said, adding that the nation was mourning.

He vowed to "settle the score" with Hamas, telling the militant group's leaders, "We will hunt you down, we will catch you."

His words, however, were overshadowed by growing anger among many Israelis, including politicians and the families of the hostages.

The hostages' families called for a nationwide strike to begin Sunday night to push the government toward a hostage-release deal.

The calls were also echoed by Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, who urged for strikes to shut down the country's economy and put pressure on the government.

"They were alive but [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his Cabinet of death decided not to save them," Lapid wrote on his Facebook page. "There are still hostages alive. We can still make a deal."

The head of Israel's powerful Histadrut labor union joined calls for a strike, urging all civilian workers not to go to work on Monday. 

rmt/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)