Support truly
independent journalism
Support Now
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
The families of the Israeli hostages have blamed Benjamin Netanyahu after the bodies of six captives were recovered from Gaza.
The Israeli military said early on Sunday that the corpses were found in a tunnel beneath the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where they were apparently killed not long before the troops reached them.
The bodies of Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino have been returned to Israel, military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. All six were captured by Hamas during the 7 October attack that ignited the Gaza war.
The discovery sparked calls for mass protests by families of the hostages who said their loved ones could have been returned alive in a ceasefire deal.
The Hostage Families Forum called on the Israeli prime minister to take responsibility and explain what was holding up an agreement, as 101 Israeli and foreign captives remain in Gaza, with around two-thirds of these possibly alive.
Speaking of the six, the forum said: “They were all murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture, and starvation in Hamas captivity. The delay in signing the deal has led to their deaths and those of many other hostages.”
Key Points
- Israel recovers six hostage bodies in Gaza killed not long before troops reached them
- Hostage families blame Netanyahu after six bodies recovered from Rafah tunnels
- Discovery likely to spur further Israeli protests demanding captives release deal
- Netanyahu insists Israel is committed to deal while he says whoever kills hostages is not
- Hamas official blames Israel for death of hostages
Israeli defence minister calls for deal to bring Gaza hostages home
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to conclude a ceasefire deal with Hamas to bring the remaining hostages home from Gaza, as the bodies of six of those taken on 7 October were brought home.
"It's too late for the abductees who were murdered in cold blood. The abductees who remain in the captivity of Hamas must be returned home," he said on the social media platform X.
"The political-security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday," he said, referring to a decision by the cabinet to insist on keeping troops in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of Gaza.
Netanyahu's insistence on keeping troops in the corridor to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons in from Egypt, has been widely seen as one of the major obstacles to an agreement with Hamas in talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar.
Gallant has clashed repeatedly with Netanyahu and hardline religious nationalist ministers over the need to reach a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and bring the remaining hostages back in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Around a third of the 101 Israeli and foreign captives still in Gaza are believed to have died, with the fate of the others unknown.
Israeli media reported that Gallant confronted Netanyahu angrily during the cabinet meeting on Thursday over the issue of the Philadelphi corridor and warned that time was running out for a hostage deal.
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 14:00 1725193351Hostage families blame Netanyahu after six bodies recovered from Rafah tunnels
The families of the Israeli hostages have blamed Benjamin Netanyahu after the bodies of six captives were recovered from Gaza.
The discovery sparked calls for mass protests by families of the hostages who said their loved ones could have been returned alive in a ceasefire deal.
The Hostage Families Forum called on the Israeli prime minister to take responsibility and explain what was holding up an agreement, as 101 Israeli and foreign captives remain in Gaza, with around two-thirds of these possibly alive.
Speaking of the six, the forum said: “They were all murdered in the last few days, after surviving almost 11 months of abuse, torture, and starvation in Hamas captivity. The delay in signing the deal has led to their deaths and those of many other hostages.”
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 13:22 1725191716Six deaths leaves 101 Israeli and foreign captives still in Gaza
The recovered bodies were from about 250 hostages captured during the Hamas-led shock incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza on 7 October last year.
Their deaths leaves 101 Israeli and foreign captives still in Gaza, but around a third of these are known to have died, with the fate of others unknown.
About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas assault, according to Israeli tallies.
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 12:55 1725191426Netanyahu insists Israel is committed to deal while he says whoever kills hostages is not
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not rest until it catches those responsible for the killing of six hostages whose bodies were recovered from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu, in a statement, insisted that Israel was committed to achieving a deal to release remaining hostages and ensure Israel's security – while he said that whoever kills hostages “does not want a deal”.
Hamas official blames Israel for death of hostages
Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq on Sunday blamed Israel for the death of hostages, saying Israel was unwilling to reach a deal.
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 12:45 1725191038Israel's Lapid calls for labor strike after hostages' bodies recovered
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Sunday for a strike to shut down the country's economy in order to pressure the government to reach a deal to release the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Lapid, who is also a former prime minister, called on every Israeli "whose heart was broken this morning" to join a major protest in Tel Aviv later in the day. He also called on Israel's main labor union, businesses and municipalities to go on strike.
His remarks came after Israel recovered the bodies of six more hostages from captivity in Gaza.
Harris reiterates call for ceasefire in Gaza after six hostages found dead
The Taoiseach has described the murder of six Israeli hostages in Gaza as an outrage.
Simon Harris reiterated his call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire following the discovery of the bodies of the six hostages in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Saturday.
Israel has said they were killed shortly before its forces reached the tunnel in which they were found.
David Young reports:
Harris reiterates call for ceasefire in Gaza after six hostages found dead
Israel says the group were killed shortly before its forces reached the tunnel in which they were discovered.
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 12:42 1725190714Three Israeli police officers shot dead in West Bank
Palestinian militants have killed three Israeli police officers when they opened fire on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has carried out large-scale raids in recent days.
The attack took place along a road in the southern West Bank early on Sunday.
The raids have mainly been focused on urban refugee camps in the northern part of the territory, where Israeli forces have traded fire with militants on a near-daily basis since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
The police confirmed all three killed were officers and said the assailants fled.
One of the officers killed was Roni Shakuri, 61, from the southern town of Sderot near the Gaza border, police said. His daughter, Mor, who was also a police officer, was killed in a battle with Hamas militants when they tried to take over Sderot police station during the October 7 attack.
A little-known militant group calling itself the Khalil al-Rahman Brigade claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, while Hamas praised it as a "natural response" to the war in Gaza and called for more.
The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas's 7 October attack out of Gaza ignited the war.
More than 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, mainly during Israeli military arrest raids. Most appear to have been militants involved in gun battles with Israeli forces, but civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters have also been killed.
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 12:38 1725189825UN begins polio vaccination campaign for children in Gaza
The United Nations, in collaboration with Palestinian health authorities, began to give polio vaccinations to 640,000 children in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, with Israel and Hamas agreeing to brief pauses in their 11-month war to allow the campaign to go ahead.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed last month that a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
The campaign began on Sunday in areas of central Gaza, and will move to other areas in coming days. Fighting will pause for at least eight hours on three consecutive days.
The WHO said the pauses will likely need to extend to a fourth day and the first round of vaccinations will take just under two weeks.
Children, escorted by members of their families, crowded a UN-run clinic in the central Gaza city of Deir Al-Balah, where around one million people were sheltering, according to Palestinian officials. Medical staffers marked children who got the drops with a pen on their fingers.
More than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Israel’s offensive on Gaza since 7 October
At least 40,738 Palestinians have been killed and 94,154 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the enclave's health authorities said on Sunday.
Tara Cobham1 September 2024 12:20 Newer1 / 2OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
