Who were the 6 hostages whose bodies were recovered by the Israeli army in Gaza?

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said Sunday morning it has recovered the bodies of six hostages captured in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked a war in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents had led a high-profile campaign for the prisoners’ release.

The army said the six were killed shortly before Israeli troops rescued them and that the bodies were found in a tunnel under the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The news sparked calls for mass protests by families of the hostages who said they could have been brought back alive in a ceasefire.

Goldberg-Polin and four other hostages were taken from a music festival where Palestinian militants murdered dozens of people. The sixth was captured in a nearby farming community.

Here you see the hostages:

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23

The Berkeley, California, resident lost part of his left arm in a grenade explosion in the Oct. 7 attack. In April, a Hamas-released video showed him with his left hand missing, sparking renewed protests in Israel calling on the government to do more to protect his and others’ freedoms.

His parents, U.S.-born immigrants to Israel, became perhaps the most prominent hostage family members on the international stage, meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Pope Francis and others and addressing the United Nations, urging the release of all the hostages.

On August 21, his parents delivered a speech to a hushed room at the Democratic National Convention, to sustained applause and chants of “bring him home.”

“This is a political convention. But having our only son — and all the cherished hostages — home is not a political issue. It’s a humanitarian issue,” said his father, Jon Polin. His mother, Rachel, who bowed her head during the ovation and touched her chest, said, “Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you, stay strong, survive.”

They tried to avoid reducing their son and the other prisoners to a number, describing Hersh as a music and football lover and a traveler with plans to attend college now that his military service was over. At events, Rachel often addressed her son directly, urging him to live another day.

Both wore stickers with the number 320, which represented the number of days their son had been held. It had long become part of a morning ritual: tearing off a new piece of tape, writing down a new day.

Eden Jerusalem, 24

Born in Tel Aviv, Yerushalmi enjoyed spending summer days on the beach and was studying to become a Pilates instructor, according to the Hostage Families Forum, which is campaigning for the prisoners’ release.

She worked as a bartender at the open-air music festival Tribe of Nova. When Hamas’ first rocket attack set off air raid sirens, she sent a video to her family saying she was leaving the party. During the attack, she called police and was in contact with her sisters for the next four hours, the forum said.

“They got me,” were her last words to them.

Carmel Hole, 40

According to the forum, the Tel Aviv occupational therapist was “full of compassion and love” and enjoyed solo travel, rock concerts and the band Radiohead.

She was staying with her parents in Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities, when militants broke into their home and abducted her on the morning of October 7. Her parents were killed in the attack.

Hostages released during a ceasefire in November said she taught them meditation and yoga exercises to help them survive in captivity.

Alexander Lobanov, 33

Lobanov was a married father of a two-year-old and a five-month-old baby, born while he was in custody. He was also abducted from the music festival, where he had been working as a bar manager.

The forum, citing witnesses, said he helped evacuate people from the festival and ran away with others before he was abducted. It said the others managed to escape.

Almog Sarusi, 27

The forum described Sarusi as a “lively, positive person who loved traveling around Israel in his white jeep with his guitar.” He was at the music festival with his girlfriend of five years, who was killed in the attack.

According to the forum, Sarusi stayed with her after she was injured and was then kidnapped.

Ori Danino, 25

Danino, born in Jerusalem, was the eldest of five siblings and wanted to study electrical engineering. “Ori was known for his ambition, love for people and was loved by everyone. He loved nature and was very handy,” the forum said.

It was said that he was kidnapped from the Nova festival while driving back and trying to help others escape.

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The Associated Press