LAST UPDATE | 1 Sep
THE ISRAELI MILITARY has said that it had found the bodies of six hostages in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, including a US-Israeli and a Russian-Israeli.
With frustration and anger growing among the public, the head of Israel’s powerful Histadrut trade union has ordered a “complete strike” in support of hostages to begin tomorrow.
“We must stop the abandonment of the hostages… I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken,” said Histadrut chairman Arnon bar David in a statement.
“Starting tomorrow at six in the morning, the entire Israeli economy will go on complete strike.”
It comes as US president Joe Biden said Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages.
Asked by reporters if he thought Netanyahu was doing enough on the issue, Biden responded: “No.”
The US president was meeting with his negotiators who said they were “very close” to a final proposal to be presented to Israel and Hamas.
The hostages remains were recovered yesterday “in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area” and returned to Israel where they were formally identified, the military said.
It said the dead hostages were Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino, who were all seized by Palestinian militants during the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel that triggered the ongoing war.
Gat was taken from the southern Israeli kibbutz community of Beeri, while the remaining five, ages 23 to 32, were abducted from a music festival near the Gaza border.
They were among 251 people taken hostage during the 7 October attack, 97 of whom remain captive in Gaza including 33 the Israeli army says are dead.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the six hostages whose remains had been retrieved were alive when taken captive.
“They were held hostage by Hamas and murdered in cold blood,” Gallant said in a statement.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said “they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them”.
Israel’s health ministry said the six were shot at close range shortly before their bodies were recovered from the Gaza Strip.
“The six hostages were murdered by Hamas terrorists with several close-range gunshots,” ministry spokesperson Shira Solomon said in a statement.
“According to the forensic examination, the hostages’ deaths are estimated to have occurred approximately 48-72 hours before their examination (between Thursday and early Friday morning).”
Hamas has said the hostages were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum also insisted that the only way to bring the remaining hostages to Israel was a negotiated deal.
“A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months,” it said in a statement.
“Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris described the situation as an outrage.
“These innocent people were abducted and held by Hamas for nearly 11 months. Reports they were murdered in recent days are sickening.
This is the latest outrage and atrocity in a year of bloody inhumanity.
“This violence and death cannot continue and every life that can be saved, must be saved.”
He once again called for a ceasefire and for all remaining hostages to be released.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that the taking and holding of hostages “is reprehensible and unconscionable in any and all circumstances”.
President Michael D Higgins said, “One’s heart can only go out to their families who now have to carry what must be an unbearable grief in addition to the agony which they have faced since their abduction eleven months ago.
“All of this killing must stop,” the President said in a statement.
“Piling the dead upon the dead is a hopeless strategy when what is needed is an engagement with current and long neglected issues that will enable life to be made possible for all in the region.”
He said states must insist that “it is time for all remaining hostages to be released by Hamas, for an immediate ceasefire, for a serious exchange of prisoners to take place, and for all necessary aid to be provided to those who need it”.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “shocked” at the “senseless killing”.
“My thoughts are with their loved ones at this awful time,” Starmer said on X, adding, “Hamas must release all the hostages now, and a ceasefire deal must be agreed by all sides immediately to end the suffering”.
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said today that he was “horrified at the murder of 6 Israeli hostages of Hamas”.
“These young innocent men women should have long been brought to safety and to their loved ones,” Borrell said on X, calling for a ceasefire and return of the remaining hostages.
Tonight we received devastating news that Hersh Goldberg-Polin and 5 other hostages were murdered by Hamas. Just days ago at the Democratic convention, we were greatly moved by the courageous testimonial of Hersh’s parents. As we mourn with them and the families of the other…
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) September 1, 2024
Months long talks for a ceasefire and to secure the release of hostages have so far failed to have a positive outcome, with both Israel and Hamas blaming each other for the delays.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu has said he is not in favour of a permanent ceasefire and Israeli negotiators have insisted on maintaining military control of a corridor dividing the Gaza Strip in two.
Israel also wants to keep military control of the corridor of land along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu got into a shouting match last week with his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who accused him of prioritising control of the strategic corridor over the lives of the hostages.
Hamas has said it wants to see the implementation of US President Joe Biden’s three-phase ceasefire plan, which he said was originally an Israeli proposal despite never being publicly endorsed by Israel.
The possibility of a deal was dealt a significant blow when Israel assassinated Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Iran on 31 July.
Today, Netanyahu accused the group of scuttling ongoing ceasefire efforts.
“Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal,” he said.
Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has so far killed at least 40,691 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
Domestic political pressure has continued to bear down on Netanyahu over his failure to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Protests have been taking place weekly since the war began but have grown in recent months.
Families of hostages have called for a nationwide general strike starting tonight to force the government to reach a deal to secure the release of captives still held in Gaza. Since then a major Israeli trade union has joined that call.
“We must stop the abandonment of the hostages… I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken,” said Histadrut union chairman Arnon bar David in a statement.
“Starting tomorrow at six in the morning, the entire Israeli economy will go on complete strike.”
Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it calls on the “public to join a massive demonstration, demanding a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal to release the hostages”.
It urged Israelis to demonstrate in Tel Aviv later today and asked the country’s powerful Histadrut union to participate in the strike.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid also called for a “general strike”.
“They were alive but Netanyahu and his cabinet of death decided not to save them,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
“There are still hostages alive. We can still make a deal.”
With reporting from AFP
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say