Israel’s military has announced that its troops have recovered the bodies of six captives, including a dual US national, from a tunnel in southern Gaza, as it continued its 11-month-long deadly assault on Palestinian enclave.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched war on Gaza on October 7 following an attack led by Palestinian group Hamas. About 250 people were taken captives following the October 7 attacks in southern Israel. The coastal enclave has been turned into rubble amid non-stop bombardment as Israel repeatedly refused to agree to a ceasefire deal to free the captives.
The military said on Sunday that their remains were recovered “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area” and returned to Israel where they were formally identified. It claimed that the captives were killed not long before their bodies were recovered.
The captives were identified as Almog Sarusi, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi and Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
A forum of captives’ families, who have been critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the issue, called for a massive protest later on Sunday, demanding a “complete halt of the country” to push for the implementation of a ceasefire and release of the remaining captives.
“A deal for the return of the hostages has been on the table for over two months. Were it not for the delays, sabotage, and excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would likely still be alive. It’s time to bring our hostages home,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said the six captives were killed in Israeli air strikes. Al-Risheq also blamed the United States for its “bias, support and partnership” in the 11-month war on the besieged territory.
The Israeli prime minister on Sunday vowed to “settle the score” with Hamas, saying “we will hunt you down.”
“Those who kill hostages do not want an agreement” for a Gaza truce, Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu blamed for ‘refusing’ to strike a deal
Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, blamed Netanyahu and his cabinet for “refusing” to strike a deal to secure the release of the captives, a move he said had “signed [the Israeli captives’] death sentence”.
“Israel refuses to come down to reality,” he told Al Jazeera. “That’s the problem. And it cost the life of Israeli hostages.”
In a statement, US President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” of the death of the six captives, including Israeli American Goldberg-Polin.
Biden, who has has backed and funded Israeli bombardment of Gaza, pledged that “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.”
A ceasefire deal put forth by Biden in May, which called for release of captives, was rejected by Netanyahu.
Days earlier, Kaid Farhan al-Kadi, who belongs to a Bedouin community in southern Israel, was rescued about a kilometre away, the military said.
The Israeli publication, YNet, quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that three of the captives who were killed were on a list approved by Hamas on July 2 for release. Al Jazeera however, could not independently verify the news.
Among those who were confirmed killed was Gat, the cousin of Gil Dickmann, who has been holding daily protests to put pressure on the Netanyahu government to negotiate with Hamas for the release of the remaining captives.
For Dickmann, the situation has been personal. On October 7, his aunt Kinneret Gat was also killed in Be’eri, a kibbutz in southern Israel.
“Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t listen!,” Dickmann had said during one of the protests. “Benjamin Netanyahu, leave politics out of the negotiation room!”
About 100 captives still remain in Gaza while 105 were released in a deal with Hamas, which has set ceasefire as a condition to release the remaining captives.
But Israel has been accused of war crimes and atrocities against Palestinians. The International Criminal Court persecutor has sought arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes. Warrants were also requested for two Hamas leaders.