Who were 6 hostages ‘killed by Hamas’ in Gaza? Why have the deaths triggered protests in Israel?

There is anger and pain in Israel. Protests have broken out across the country after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the bodies of six hostages, which it claimed Hamas killed in Gaza.

On Sunday, as relatives laid the bodies of their loved ones to rest, protesters took to the streets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, outraging against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for failing to secure a deal for the release of the hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 attacks.

Some of the six people found dead in Gaza were expected to be released in an eventual ceasefire deal, according to US and Israeli officials, reports CNN.

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Who were the six hostages killed?

On Sunday, Israel confirmed the deaths of the six hostages captured by Hamas on October 7. About 251 people were taken hostage, 97 of whom remain captive in Gaza. According to the Israeli army, 33 are dead.

Of the six hostages, whose bodies were recovered by the Israeli military on Saturday, five were taken from the music festival and the sixth was captured from a nearby kibbutz.

The hostages have been identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Eden Yerushalmi (24), Ori Danino (25), Almog Sarusi (26), Alexander Lobanov (32) and Carmel Gat (39).

Hersh Goldberg-Polin

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Hersh Goldberg-Polin was an Israel-American and one of the most recognisable faces of the hostage crisis. He was attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7 when Hamas launched its attack. Along with his three friends, he hid in a bomb shelter. Two of them died while one survived.

As Hamas terrorists lobbed grenades into the bunker, Goldberg-Polin rushed to throw them out. Amid this, his arm was blown off. After the gunfire settled, he was forcibly taken by the gunmen, reports CNN. That was the last his friends saw of him.

A Hamas video from the day showed him being loaded onto a pick-up truck with part of his left arm missing. Six months after he was captured, he appeared in a hostage video released by the Palestinian militant group. He said in Hebrew that he had been “here for almost 200 days”, calling his parents to stay strong.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents Jonathan and Rachel moved from the United States to Israel when he was seven. He was the older brother of two sisters and dreamt of becoming a chef and travelling the world. He was “happy-go-lucky” and “good-humoured” and loved soccer and music, according to his family, reports CNN.

His parents led a media campaign in Israel and the United States calling for his release and met US President Joe Biden several times.

After his death, the family said in a statement, “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.”

Goldberg-Polin was among the hostages expected to be released during the first phase of the eventual ceasefire talks. The others were Eden Yerushalmi and Carmel Gat.

Eden Yerushalmi

Eden Yerushalmi was working as a bartender at the Nova festival when she was kidnapped.

On the morning of October 7, the 24-year-old called her family screaming that she was scared and had seen armed men attack the festival, according to her sister Shani. At first, she hid in a car, where she found the bodies of two of her friends. However, after an hour, one of their phones started ringing, forcing her to leave the car and hide in a bush, reports AFP.

She spoke to her sister for hours, who heard everything as she tried to hide and escape. “Shani, they found me,” were her last words before she was taken to Gaza.

Yerushalmi liked playing paddleball and attending parties. Her acquaintances describe her as a vibrant young woman with many friends. She was studying to become a pilates instructor, according to the Hostages Families Forum, an activist group representing the families of abductees held in Gaza.

Ori Danino

Twenty-five-year-old Ori Danino was a soldier who was captured when he returned to the Nova festival to rescue his friends Omer Shemtov, Maya and Itay Regev, who were also taken hostage. He disappeared shortly after militants began firing on his car.

Maya Regev and her brother Itay were released during a one-week truce in November, while Omer Shemtov is still being held in Gaza.

Danino was the eldest son of Elchanan and Einav Danino. He was one of five siblings. He was engaged and due to start his studies in electrical engineering.

Ori was known for his ambition, and love for people. He loved nature and was very handy, according to the Hostages Families Forum.

Almog Sarusi

Almog Sarusi was a music producer originally from Raanana in central Israel. He was at the festival with his fiancee Shahar Gindi. The couple tried to escape but Gindi was shot and severely injured. She died and he was kidnapped as he stayed by her side trying to save her.

Sarusi loved playing the guitar and travelling around Israel in his white jeep.

Alexander Lobanov

Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov was the head bartender at the Nova festival. He helped people evacuate as terrorists attacked. According to his relatives, he then hid in an olive grove along with five others before being captured.

The 32-year-old was the father of two. His wife Michal gave birth to their second child, whom he never met, in March. Lobanov is also survived by a two-year-old child and his disabled parents whom he cared for, reports AFP.

Carmel Gat

The 39-year-old was an occupational therapist who had recently returned to Israel after a trip to India. He was dragged from her parental home in Beeri kibbutz and kidnapped along with other members of her family.

Some of the hostages who were freed during the first truce reported seeing her. She turned 40 while held in Gaza. Released hostages said she had taught yoga to some of them in captivity.

Gat’s mother was found dead after the Hamas attacks, while her sister-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat was taken hostage and released in November.

Gat was full of passion and love and always found ways to help and support others. She loved to travel alone and meet new people, and she liked rock music, according to the forum.

How were the hostages killed?

The Israeli military found the bodies of the six hostages in an underground tunnel in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. It claimed that the hostages were brutally murdered by Hamas shortly before security forces could reach them.

“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah. According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

The hostages were killed 48 to 72 hours before the autopsy, between Thursday and Friday morning, the Israeli health ministry said on Sunday. It added that a forensic examination found that all six hostages were shot multiple times from close range, reports The Times of Israel.

According to a report in Chanel12, security officials fear that Hamas killed the six over concerns that a hostage who was rescued from a nearby tunnel last week would divulge details about where other captives were held.

Hagari said that the bodies of the six hostages “were found during the fighting in Rafah, in a tunnel, about a kilometre away from the tunnel from which we rescued Farhan al-Qadi a few days ago”.

How have Israelis reacted to the deaths?

On Sunday, large-scale protests erupted across Israel. They claim that Netanyahu has not done enough to secure a hostage deal with Hamas.

Meanwhile, Israel’s most powerful labour union, Histadrut, has called for a nationwide general strike on Monday, demanding a hostage deal, saying the “entire Israeli economy will shut down”.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has asked the country’s attorney general to request urgent injunctions to prevent the strike. In a letter addressed to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Smotrich argued that a strike would hurt the economy during wartime and set a dangerous precedent, reports CNN.

Netanyahu expressed sorrow over the deaths of six hostages, saying Hamas does not want a ceasefire deal. “Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal,” he said.

What has Hamas said?

Senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya has blamed Netanyahu for the deaths of six Israeli hostages. “These individuals and others could have been released to their families in a real exchange deal while they were still alive,” Al-Hayya said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “Netanyahu and his extremist government are the reason they lost their lives.”

According to him, dozens of hostages in Gaza had been killed by Israeli “strikes along with those who were sitting, guarding, and living with them,” though he did not provide any evidence for this claim.

With inputs from agencies