The bodies of six hostages kidnapped alive by Hamas on October 7 were recovered from a tunnel in the Rafah area of ​​the Gaza Strip.

It’s about them Carmel Gatt, 40, Eden Jerusalem, 24, Herce Goldberg-Paulin, 23, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Almog Sarousi, 27 and Ori Danino, 25 he said in a statement.

According to the IDF, the six were killed by Hamas about a day or two before troops found them. Israeli forces did not have the exact location of the hostages, but had indications of the area where the six might be held.

The tunnel in which the slain hostages were found, in Rafah, is about a kilometer from where soldiers found hostage Farhan al-Qadi earlier this week.

The hostages in detail

Herce Goldberg-Paulin, 23

Son of Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, and older brother to two sisters. Born in the United States, he immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of 7. On October 7, Hers was at the NOVA music festival. When the Hamas offensive began, he fled to the shelter of death. During the attack, Hersh was injured in the arm and witnesses report that he managed to apply a tourniquet to himself. On April 24, Hamas released a video of Hers showing his amputated hand. Hers was an avid fan of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team.

In his message, he said the government is not accepting any of the deals that have been proposed to it and is asking his family to stay strong and continue to push for everyone’s return. “As you sit with your families, think of us who are in hell under the earth without water, food, sun or the medical care we need.”

Alexander Lobanov, 32,

Son of Oksana and Gregory. He was married and had two children, a two-year-old and a 5-month-old baby born while he was in captivity. On October 7, Alex was kidnapped from the NOVA festival, where he was working as a bar manager. Testimonies say that Alex helped remove the people and ran with five others into Beeri Forest. While they escaped, he was captured.

Carmel Gat, 40

40-year-old Carmel worked as an occupational therapist. He always found ways to support and help others. She enjoyed traveling, meeting new people, going to live rock concerts and especially loved Radiohead. On October 7, while she was staying at her parents’ home in Kibbutz Be’eri, terrorists broke in and kidnapped her around 10:00 AM. After 50 days with no sign of life, the family received testimonials from returning hostages who described her as their guardian angel. To survive captivity, he taught them meditation and yoga exercises.

Almog Sarousi, 27

His friends describe him as a lively, positive person who enjoyed traveling around Israel in his white Jeep with his guitar. THE Almog was kidnapped from the NOVA festival where he was with his girlfriend of five years, Sahar. Sahar was killed. He stayed with her, trying to help her while she was injured, and was then arrested.

Eden Jerusalem, 24,

Born in Tel Aviv. A lively young woman with many friends and hobbies, theEden he loved spending summer days at the beach playing paddleball, attending parties. She was studying to become a Pilates teacher. On October 7 she was working as a barwoman at the NOVA festival. When the sirens went off, he sent a video of rocket launches to the family chat they were having, saying he was leaving the party. During the Hamas attack, Eden called the police, describing the situation and pleading, “Find me, okay?” For four hours she talked to her sisters May and Sunny, who heard everything she went through as she tried to escape. Her last words were “Sunny, I’ve been caught.”

Ori Danino, 25

Born in Jerusalem and the eldest of five brothers. He planned to begin his academic studies as an electrical engineer. On October 7, Ori was kidnapped from the Nova festival while driving to help others escape and survive. Ori was known for his ambition, love for people and was loved by all. He loved nature and was very handy.

What do the relatives of the hostages say?

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that the six hostages, whose bodies were recovered in Gaza, would still be alive if the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had reached an agreement with Hamas to release them.

“It is with deep sadness that we once again announce the murder of 6 hostages. These 6 people were captured alive, endured the horrors of captivity and then murdered in cold blood.
A deal to return the hostages has been on the table for more than two months. If it weren’t for the delays, the sabotages and the excuses those whose deaths we learned about this morning would probably still be alive. The time has come to bring our hostages home – the living for restoration and the fallen and murdered for burial in their homelands.”

“Netanyahu: Enough with the excuses. Enough with the backtracking. Enough of the abandonment. The time has come to bring our hostages home – the living and the murdered to be buried in their own land.” writes the forum.