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Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including one American citizen, Israeli officials said.
Why it matters: The recovery operation took place amid continued efforts to reach a hostage-release and ceasefire in Gaza deal.
After the operation, there are 101 hostages remaining in Gaza.
Driving the news: The recovery operation took place on Saturday afternoon local time but it took many hours to officially identify the bodies and notify the families, Israeli officials said.
The six bodies belong to three men and three women who were kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the hostages were murdered by Hamas guards “shortly before IDF forces reached them.”
The body of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a U.S. citizen who became the symbol of the American hostages held by Hamas, was among those recovered.
Goldberg-Polin was last seen in a video released by Hamas in April.
His parents recently spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with thousands in the audience chanting “bring them back” and calling for the release of the hostages.
“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time,” they said in a statement on Sunday morning local time.
President Biden said Goldberg-Polin’s parents “have been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions,” in a statement on Saturday night.
His death “is as tragic as it is reprehensible,” the statement continued. “Make no mistake, 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.”
Biden said the bodies of the hostages were recovered from a tunnel under the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.
“The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel — and American citizens in Israel — must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement.
The big picture: Israeli negotiators and the heads of the security and intelligence services have been urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet for months to reach a deal to secure the release of the hostages.
“We warned Netanyahu and the cabinet ministers about this exact scenario but they wouldn’t listen,” a senior Israeli official told Axios on Saturday.
Two days ago an Israeli security cabinet meeting turned into an unprecedented shouting match between Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant over this issue.
Gallant, IDF chief of staff Gen. Herzi Halevi and Mossad director David Barnea claimed Netanyahu’s proposal to vote on a resolution to maintain full Israeli control along the Philadelphi corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border would undermine a possible deal.
“We have to choose between Philadelphi and the hostages. We can’t have both. If we vote, we might find out that either the hostages will die or we will have to backtrack to release them,” Gallant told Netanyahu and the other cabinet ministers.
Netanyahu disregarded the warnings and brought the Philadelphi corridor to a vote with the majority of the cabinet ministers voting in favor.
The statement created an unprecedented uproar among the hostage families, who were already angry about the cabinet decision, which they saw as a deliberate move by Netanyahu to sabotage the deal.
The Hostage Families Forum Headquarters, an NGO pushing for a deal to secure the release of the hostages, called for mass protest against Netanyahu on Sunday.
“Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. This is now a fact. Starting tomorrow the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. We will bring the country to a halt. The abandonment is over,” the group said in a statement on Saturday.
What they’re saying: President Biden told reporters earlier on Saturday evening that he was briefed about the recovery of the bodies but said he still didn’t have full confirmation about their identity.
“It’s time this war ended,” Biden said and added he is “still optimistic” about the Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire talks.
“We think we can close the deal. They’ve all said they agree on the principles,” he said.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with details throughout.
An Israeli security cabinet meeting about the hostage-release and Gaza ceasefire deal erupted on Thursday night and turned into an unprecedented shouting match between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Israeli officials said.
Why it matters: The confrontation exposed the ongoing — and intensifying — political rift and personal animosity between Netanyahu and Gallant.
