Grieving and angry Israelis took to the streets tonight after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.
Israel's largest trade union, the Histadrut, called a general strike for Monday to pressure the government — the first since the Oct. 7 attack on Hamas that started the war.
The strike is expected to halt or disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking, healthcare and the country's main airport.
It is estimated that tens of thousands of Israelis will protest tonight, and many are already outside Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem.
Many blame Netanyahu for failing to return the hostages alive because he failed to reach an agreement with Hamas to end the war.
Hamas has offered to release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
Izzat al-Rishk, a senior Hamas official, said the hostages would still be alive if Israel had accepted a US-backed ceasefire proposal, which Hamas said it agreed to back in July.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and says military pressure is needed to bring the hostages home.
Critics have accused Netanyahu of stalling ceasefire talks and putting his personal interests ahead of those of the hostages.
The end of the war is likely to lead to an investigation into his government's failure in the October 7 attacks, the collapse of his government and early elections.
The Israeli army announced today that it has identified the bodies of six hostages abducted from Israel and brought to Gaza, including two women and four men.
Autopsies on the bodies of hostages found in Gaza showed that six hostages were killed "at close range" "between Thursday and Friday morning", the Israeli Ministry of Health announced today.
(BETA)
EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borrell said he was horrified by the killing of six Israeli hostages by Hamas.
The Israeli army announced today that it has identified the bodies of six hostages abducted from Israel and brought to Gaza, including two women and four men.
"Those innocent young men and women should have been safe a long time ago and returned to their loved ones. We are with all the hostages," Borelj wrote on the X network.
Borelj stressed that a ceasefire is needed to end the tragedy and return all hostages home.
The Israeli Defense Forces announced that the bodies were found on Saturday in an underground tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza, the BBC reports.
Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that according to the first assessment, the hostages were brutally killed by Hamas terrorists, just before the Israeli army reached them.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishk says Israel is responsible for their deaths because it refused to sign a cease-fire agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened today to "settle scores" with the Palestinian Hamas after the death of six hostages whose bodies were found in the Gaza Strip.
"He who kills hostages does not want a ceasefire agreement and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners," Netanyahu said.
Five of the six hostages, aged between 23 and 32, were abducted by Hamas commandos at a techno music festival during the October 7 attack on Israel. 1.205 people were killed in the attack, according to a calculation by France Press based on official data.
Of the 251 people abducted that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza. According to military data, 33 of them are dead.
In the retaliatory Israeli attack on Gaza, at least 40.691 people were killed, according to the Hamas government's Ministry of Health, and a humanitarian and sanitary disaster was caused in the besieged territories.
(BETA)
Unions responded to calls by Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid to stage a strike to shut down the country's economy and pressure the government to reach a deal to free the remaining hostages.
Reuters reports that the powerful Histadrut trade union federation, which represents hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, is considering a strike and will make a decision later in the day after meeting with the families of the hostages.
The Israel Manufacturers Association supported the idea of a strike and criticized the government for failing to return the hostages, which they called a "moral duty". "Without the return of the hostages, we will not be able to end the war, we will not be able to rebuild society, and we will not be able to begin to rebuild the Israeli economy.
We are divided and divided, and this is the moment to act to unite Israeli society. The government must do everything possible to return the hostages, even under the constraints of a limited ceasefire, and I urge all companies in Israel to act to make this happen," said Ron Tomer, president of the Israel Manufacturers Association.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Galant called on the government to reverse the decision to keep Israeli forces along the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt, a key point of contention in the Gaza truce talks.
"The government must meet immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday. We must return the hostages that Hamas is still holding," Galant said, according to the Guardian.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that any peace agreement must allow for an Israeli presence along the Philadelphia Corridor and on the road that cuts through the Gaza Strip, called the Netzarim Corridor.
Hamas has rejected any such presence, arguing that it contradicts the three-phase peace plan announced by Joe Biden in late May and later approved by the UN Security Council, which ultimately calls for a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the "unconditional release" of hostages held in Gaza and an end to the "nightmare of war in Gaza."
"I will never forget my meeting last October with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Paulin and other families of the hostages. Today's tragic news is a painful reminder of the need for the unconditional release of all hostages and an end to the nightmare of war in Gaza," he wrote on social network X.
Israeli Minister of Security and far-right Itamar Ben Gvir expressed his condolences to the families of the hostages whose bodies were found, as well as to the police officers who were killed near Hebron, whom he said were heroes and his holy brothers.
"Unfortunately, I see disturbing statements from the left accusing the Israeli government of killing the hostages. Let me be clear: the terrorist organization Hamas, it and only it, killed the hostages. Those who shift the blame to the Israeli government are repeating Hamas propaganda," he pointed out.
A senior Hamas official said some of the six hostages who died were "approved for release" in the event of a truce, which has not yet been finalized despite months of mediation efforts.
"Some of the names of the prisoners announced by the Israeli occupier as found ... were part of a list of hostages approved by Hamas for release in a proposed exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel," the official told Agence France-Presse.
A Hamas official said the hostages were "killed by fire and bombardment by the occupiers," which the Israeli military denied.
According to a statement from the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 40.738 Palestinians have been killed and 94.154 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.
The ministry said thousands of other dead were likely trapped in the ruins of the enclave.
Israeli forces have arrested at least 24 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank in the past 36 hours, including a journalist, four female students from Hebron and several former prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoners Association and the Prisoners and Former Prisoners Authority said. Most of the arrests are reported to have taken place in Hebron.
The occupied West Bank, which Palestinians want as the basis for a future independent state along with Gaza, has seen an increase in violence since the start of the war last year, with a major crackdown by Israeli security forces making thousands of arrests.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "settle scores" with Hamas after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza yesterday.
Netanyahu told Hamas leaders: "We will hunt you down, we will catch you and settle scores," the Guardian reports.
The Prime Minister of Israel also accused Hamas of carrying out a gun attack earlier today near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
"We are fighting on all fronts against a cruel enemy who wants to kill us all. Just this morning, they killed three policemen in Hebron," Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas.
"The fact that Hamas continues to commit atrocities like the ones it committed on October 7 obliges us to do everything we can to ensure that it cannot do so again," Netanyahu added.
Hamas did not claim responsibility for the attack in the West Bank, but called the attack a "heroic resistance operation" in a statement.
Yair Lapid, Israel's opposition leader and former prime minister, has called for a strike to shut down the country's economy to pressure the government to reach an agreement to release the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Lapid called on all Israelis "whose heart is broken this morning" to join a large protest in Tel Aviv later in the day. He also called on major unions, entrepreneurs and municipalities in Israel to go on strike, the Guardian reports.
In a statement, the leader of the Yesh Atid party calls on employers and local authorities to stop the economy, claiming that the country is collapsing and cannot continue like this.
These statements come after Israel recovered the bodies of six more hostages from captivity in Gaza. The discovery of six bodies in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area leaves around 100 hostages still unaccounted for in Gaza. The Israeli military claims 35 of them are known to have died since October.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his country will not stop until it catches those responsible for the murder of six hostages whose bodies were returned from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, the Guardian reports.
In a press release, the Israeli prime minister said Israel is committed to reaching an agreement to free the remaining hostages and ensure Israel's security.
"Anyone who kills hostages does not want a deal," Netanyahu said.
The main issue in the negotiations was the Philadelphia Corridor along the Gaza border with Egypt and the Netzarim East-West Corridor. Netanyahu insisted that Israel maintain control of the corridors to prevent smuggling and capture militant fighters. Hamas demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israeli police said the three people killed in the shooting in the occupied West Bank were Israeli police officers.
"Three police officers were killed this morning in a shootout," Ouzi Levi, the head of Israel's West Bank police, told reporters at the scene of the attack near the Tarkumi checkpoint, near the city of Hebron.
Two police officers were pronounced dead at the scene, while the third was airlifted to hospital but later died, BBC News reports.
Israeli forces continue their offensive on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp for the fifth day in a row.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli troops have started destroying streets and commercial shops in the center of Jenin for the first time. Israeli bulldozers have started demolishing shops in the city center.
Since the start of the offensive last Wednesday, the aggressive Israeli military campaign has resulted in the killing of 14 Palestinians, while dozens of others have been wounded or arrested.
The continuation of the attacks caused extensive damage to civilian property, public and private facilities, as well as to key infrastructure, including water and electricity networks.
The city and its refugee camp remain under a strict blockade imposed by Israeli forces, which have further increased their military presence in the area.
According to Israeli leaders, a military campaign across the West Bank is aimed at preventing attacks on Israelis after a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv last month.
A senior Hamas official, Izzat El-Reshiq, said that Israel, by refusing to sign a cease-fire agreement, was responsible for the deaths of six people held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Key points of contention in the talks include Israel's presence in the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow 14,5 kilometer strip of land along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.
The sources also told Reuters that Israel had reservations about several Palestinian prisoners whose release Hamas is seeking, and that Israel had demanded their release from Gaza if they were released.
At least two Israelis were killed when their vehicle was opened fire near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli officials said, according to Reuters.
The army confirmed the attack, saying that three people were wounded and that security forces were searching for the attackers.
The Israeli emergency service later announced that two people were killed, while a third person was seriously wounded.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that the six hostages, whose remains were found, were alive when they were kidnapped, reports AFP.
"They were held hostage by Hamas and were killed in cold blood," Galant said in a statement.
The Israeli army announced that the bodies of six hostages, including US, Russian and Israeli citizens, were found in a tunnel in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
They were among 251 people abducted during the October 7 attack, of whom 97 remain in captivity in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
"The heart of the entire nation is broken. I hug their families from the bottom of my heart and apologize for not being able to bring them home safely," said President Jicak Hercog.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately comment as he faces pressure at home and abroad to reach a ceasefire deal that would include the release of the remaining hostages.
Hamas has not commented on these accusations.
News of the body's discovery sparked calls for a mass protest from an organization of the families of the hostages, which blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to reach a hostage exchange for peace deal with Hamas that had been under negotiation for several months. The organization warned that "the earth will shake", reports the Guardian.
Netanyahu did not immediately comment on Sunday morning, but Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog said the country would continue its fight against Hamas, while rescuing the remaining hostages would be a priority.
"The blood of our brothers is calling us. Our sisters and brothers are still there and going through hell. The supreme alliance between the state and its citizens is to ensure their safety. We have a sacred and urgent mission to bring them home," said Hercog.
The discovery of the bodies leaves 101 hostages whose fate in Gaza remains unknown. Many of them are believed to have died in the more than 10 months of war in Gaza since the October Hamas attack on Israel.
The Israeli army first announced on Saturday evening that the bodies were found "during the fighting", but stated that the work to recover the remains and identify them was still ongoing.
"The Israeli army expresses its sincere condolences to the families. The army and security forces are working with all means to return all hostages home as quickly as possible," the statement said.
An organization representing relatives of the abducted, the Hostage Families Forum, has called for nationwide protests against Netanyahu's government, which it has long accused of delaying a hostage deal with Hamas that the US and its regional allies have been trying to broker since late May.
"Netanyahu has abandoned the abductees. This is now a fact. Starting tomorrow, the country will shake. We call on the public to prepare to bring the country to a standstill," the forum said in a statement issued on Saturday evening when the first reports of the bodies being found appeared. .
"These six people were abducted alive, suffered the horrors of captivity and were then killed in cold blood. The deal for the return of the hostages was on the table for more than two months. If it had not been for the delay, sabotage and excuses, those whose deaths we know today would probably have always be alive," the organization said in a statement later on Sunday.
The Israeli military confirmed that the bodies of six hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 were found in a tunnel in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
The bodies of Karmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polina, Aleksandra Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danin were transferred to Israel, according to the statement of the Israeli army.
"According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we found them," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a news briefing.
Hamas and its armed wing did not immediately comment on the allegations.
US President Joe Biden issued a statement confirming the news.
"Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces found the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas. I am devastated and outraged," Biden said.
The family of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Paulin also issued a statement early Sunday morning, confirming that he had been killed in the Gaza Strip.
"With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is saddened to announce the passing of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time," the statement read.
US President Joe Biden promised that "the leaders of Hamas will pay for these crimes".
"And we will continue to work around the clock to reach an agreement for the release of the remaining hostages," he added.
"I strongly condemn the continued brutality of Hamas, and the whole world must condemn it," Vice President Kamala Harris said.
The Democratic presidential nominee, Harris, said she and Biden will never waver on their commitment to freeing Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters earlier in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden said he was "still optimistic" about a ceasefire agreement to end the conflict.
"I think we're on the verge of reaching an agreement. It's time for this war to end," the US president said. Biden added that "people are still negotiating."
"We think we can reach an agreement, everyone said they agree with the principles," he concluded.
Vaccination of children against polio (polio) began on Saturday in central Gaza, an official told AFP, ahead of a "humanitarian pause" in hostilities announced by the United Nations to allow it.
"Teams from the (Hamas government) Ministry of Health, UNRWA and non-governmental organizations started a polio vaccination campaign in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday," said Dr. Musa Abed, director of first aid at the Hamas government's Ministry of Health.
The first case of polio was recently confirmed in a ten-month-old child in the Gaza Strip, where the disease was eradicated 25 years ago.
The United Nations sent 1,2 million oral vaccines.
Parents who received the first oral administration of two drops, and two doses of the vaccine are needed a month apart, told AFP they feared an epidemic among children in the small territory of 2,4 million people, almost all of whom were displaced during the war.
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier said Israeli authorities had agreed to several "humanitarian pauses" of three days each in Gaza to allow 640.000 children to be vaccinated against polio.
Due to damaged roads and displaced populations, the United Nations has announced that an extra day may be needed for each area.
The agreement stipulates that the humanitarian break, every day between early morning and early afternoon, will be extended later.
According to the UN, "at least 90 percent coverage of children with the vaccine during each phase of vaccination is needed to stop the epidemic."
(Radio Free Europe)
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