Hamas claims the return of Israeli hostages’ bodies will take time, saying some are buried in destroyed tunnels and others under bombed buildings.
Hamas claimed on Thursday that the return of Israeli hostages’ bodies may take time, as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel, and others remain under the rubble of buildings that Israel bombed and destroyed, adding that the group remained committed to the Gaza agreement and keen to hand over all the remaining bodies of the hostages held in Gaza.
The retrieval of the remaining bodies required equipment to remove rubble, which was currently unavailable due to Israel’s ban on entry of such tools, Hamas added.
Israel will continue refusing to allow a Turkish delegation of 81 rescue personnel and heavy equipment to enter the Gaza Strip until Hamas returns all the remains of deceased hostages that it can, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Hamas terrorists and Gazan civilians congregate in Jabalya, northern Gaza Strip. January 30, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)
‘Group of hostages’ bodies that Hamas can return right now’
“There is a group of hostages’ bodies that Hamas can return right now [and] another group they know the location of, but they need equipment and assistance to retrieve them,” another source said. “And there are some bodies they genuinely do not know where they are.”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Thursday: “We know for certain that Hamas can easily release a significant number of hostages in accordance with the agreement. What they are doing now is a fundamental violation of that agreement.”
Republican Mayor nominee Curtis Sliwa (left), former Gov. and independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, and Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Photos by Lloyd Mitchell
Democratic mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani waited more than 12 hours to address the release of the last remaining living Israeli hostages early on Monday morning — drawing criticism from rival Andrew Cuomo that he remained silent for too long.
Cuomo, the former governor who is running as an independent, and GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa applauded in Monday morning statements the last hostages’ release from Hamas’ custody, which occurred during the early hours of Oct. 13, New York time. Mamdani’s statement came in at 4:21 p.m. Monday; by then, Cuomo had blasted the Democratic candidate in a social media post a short time earlier, charging, “His silence speaks volumes.”
Mamdani, who is a staunch Israel critic and pro-Palestinian advocate, applauded both the return of the hostages and the end to Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza — which he again referred to as “a genocide” — that the overarching ceasefire deal brought.
“Today’s scenes of Israelis and Palestinians are profoundly moving: Israeli hostages being freed and families reunited after years of fear, uncertainty, and torture; the first days in Gaza without relentless Israeli bombardment of Palestinians as families return to rubble and loved ones freed from detention,” Mamdani said in a statement. “There is finally a glimmer of hope that this ceasefire will hold and the long, difficult work of reconstruction can begin.”
Much of Mamdani’s statement focused on holding the Israeli government accountable for the massive toll of death and destruction in Gaza.
“We have watched as our tax dollars have funded a genocide,” he said. “The moral and human cost will be a lasting stain and requires accountability and real examination of our collective conscience and our government’s policies. The responsibility now lies with those of us who believe in peace to make sure it endures, and that it is just. Once aid is delivered, the wounded are cared for, and a lasting agreement secured, we cannot look away. We must work towards a future built upon justice, one without occupation and apartheid, and for a world where every person can live with safety and dignity.”
amNewYork asked the Mamdani campaign about the reasons for the delayed statement, and is awaiting a response.
On Monday, Hamas returned the 20 living hostages and the remains of at least four deceased hostages as part of a ceasefire deal between itself and Israel to bring the 24-month war in Gaza to an end.
The conflict began with Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which the group killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 hostages. Israel’s military offensive has since claimed the lives of over 68,000 Palestinians, displaced most of Gaza’s population from their homes, and left most of the coastal enclave in ruins.
Also, as part of the deal, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners held inside its jails.
‘A moral moment’
While Mamdani focused mostly on the end of the war in Gaza, Cuomo and Sliwa barely mentioned it, instead focusing mostly on the return of the hostages.
Cuomo cast the event as “a moral moment, a reminder of our shared humanity and the sacred value of every life.”
“For two long years, families have lived through unimaginable pain, sleepless nights, and endless heartache,” Cuomo said. “Today, their prayers have been answered, as the remaining hostages are finally home in the arms of their loved ones, where they belong.”
The former governor also urged people not to forget the Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught where Hamas took the hostages, quoting Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who documented his ordeal in the autobiography “Night” and won the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize for his life’s work advocating against violence, racism, and repression.
“Elie Wiesel once said, ‘The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference,’” Cuomo said. “Today, we reject indifference & choose remembrance. And we choose hope: hope that peace is possible.”
Sliwa expressed similar sentiments in his own statement, in which he also credited President Trump with brokering the ceasefire deal. His praise came despite his rocky relationship with Trump.
“After two long years, all the living hostages are now safely home! A massive weight has been lifted from their families’ shoulders,” Sliwa said. “The 20 surviving hostages are reunited with families and loved ones after 738 agonizing days in captivity. 7+3+8 = 18, which means Chai, which means “life” in Judaism. A number that embodies life, hope, and blessing. We pray that these hostages coming home can recover and live peacefully again.”
TEL AVIV, Israel — Their faces stare down from every street corner in Israel on posters now sun-faded and ripped. Their stories, told by anguished family members, are almost as well-known as celebrities. They are civilians and soldiers, fathers and sons. Some were at the Nova music festival, where almost 400 people were killed and dozens kidnapped.
The latest ceasefire, which began Friday, marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when some 1,200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped.
The fighting has killed 67,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children, and displaced around 90% of the Gaza population of some 2 million. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties in Gaza.
There are currently 48 hostages being held in Gaza, including the body of one soldier from a previous war. Israel has determined that at least 25 of the hostages were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, or died while in captivity. It is unclear how many of the remaining around 20 hostages are still alive and will return to Israel. There is only one remaining female hostage, who Israel believes was killed in captivity.
This combo of images provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, shows Israeli hostages.
Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP, File
With the start of the ceasefire on Friday, the remaining hostages are expected to be released within 72 hours. Israel is set to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Here is a look at 22 hostages Israel believes are still alive.
Matan Angrest, 22
Matan Angrest, an Israeli soldier, was kidnapped from his military tank in southern Israel. He is the oldest of four children from Kiryat Bialik, outside of Haifa. His family has been among the most vocal protesters and very critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday’s two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, his mother, Anat Angrest, addressed her son at a rally. “I know you’re in pain, and I can’t hug you. I hear you whisper, ‘Come for me, Mom,’ and I can’t protect you,” she said.
Gali Berman & Ziv Berman, 28
The fraternal twins were taken from their homes in kibbutz Kfar Aza, on the border with Gaza, during the Oct. 7 attack. Seventeen others were also abducted from Kfar Aza, but the Berman twins are the only hostages from the kibbutz who remain in captivity. The family has heard from hostages who returned in a previous deal that, as of February, the brothers were alive but being held separately. Liran Berman, their older brother, said it’s the longest the two have ever spent apart. In Kfar Aza, the twins lived in apartments across from each other. Gali is more outgoing, while Ziv is more reserved and shy with a sharp sense of humor, their brother said.
Elkana Bohbot, 36
Elkana Bohbot was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. In the past year, Hamas has published multiple videos of Bohbot, filmed under duress, including one where he has a fake telephone conversation with his wife, Rivka; their son, Reem; his mother and his brother – pleading with them to help him get out of Gaza. His son made binoculars in kindergarten which he often uses to go out and “look for his father,” according to Bohbot’s mother, Ruhama.
Rom Braslavski, 21
Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova festival. He attempted to help festival goers evacuate and was wounded in both hands before being kidnapped, witnesses said. In August, the Islamic Jihad militant group released a video of a skeletal Braslavski sobbing and pleading for his life, adding that injuries to his foot prevent him from standing. The videos of Braslavski and Evyatar David digging his own grave horrified Israelis, sparking some of the largest attendance in months at weekly protests. His father, Ofir, said Rom is usually a strong, happy-go-lucky kid, and that video is the first time he’s seen his son cry.
Nimrod Cohen, 21
Nimrod Cohen was kidnapped from a tank where he was stationed as a soldier in southern Israel. Cohen is obsessed with Rubik’s cubes, his family said, and a burned Rubik’s cube was found in the tank he was abducted from. This year, his mother, Viki Cohen, illustrated a Passover haggadah, the text laying out the rituals and story recited during the Passover holiday, in honor of hostages, partly because her family has stopped celebrating holidays since the attack. “We don’t gather as a family, because it reminds us how much he is missing,” Cohen said. The only time the extended family gathers is at protests, she said.
Ariel Cunio, 28
The youngest of four Cunio brothers, Ariel was kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehoud, and her brother, Dolev, a married father of four who was later killed in captivity. According to news reports, Cunio and Yehoud had returned from an extended trip to South America weeks before the attack and had just adopted a puppy. Yehoud was released during the ceasefire in January.
David Cunio, 35
David Cunio, brother of Ariel Cunio, was kidnapped with his wife, Sharon, and their 3-year-old twins from the Nir Oz kibbutz. Sharon’s sister Danielle and her 5-year-old daughter, who were visiting, also were kidnapped. All were released in November, except for David Cunio. In July, Sharon shared a photo of the twins marking their fifth birthday, their second without their father, writing on Facebook that the girls have changed so much while he’s been in captivity that “they’re not the same little girls he knew.”
Evyatar David, 24
Evyatar David was taken hostage at the Nova music festival along with his childhood friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal. In August, Hamas released a video of David, gaunt and pale, who said he was digging his own grave. The condition of the hostages in the videos horrified Israelis and led tens of thousands of protesters to take to the streets and demand a ceasefire deal, in one of the largest turnouts for the weekly hostage protests in months.
Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24
Guy Gilboa-Dalal was among those abducted from the Nova music festival, while his brother managed to escape. In the past year, he’s appeared in two videos released by Hamas. In one, he appears alongside his childhood friend, David, with militants filming them pleading for their freedom in a vehicle while they watch three other hostages on stage being released to the Red Cross.
Maksym Harkin, 37
Maksym Harkin was abducted from Nova, which was the first festival he had ever attended, according to his family. Harkin was born in Ukraine and moved to Israel with his family, where he lived in Tirat HaCarmel in the north. He has a 3-year-old daughter and was the primary provider for his mother and 11-year-old brother. Just before he was taken, his mother said he sent a final text message that said, “I love you.” In July, Hamas released a video of him filmed under duress several months prior.
Eitan Horn, 38
Eitan Horn, originally from Kfar Saba, was visiting his brother Iair at the Nir Oz kibbutz on Oct. 7. Both were kidnapped. For most of the war, the two were held with three other hostages in a filthy cell underground. In early February, militants filmed the emotional interaction between the brothers as they were told that Iair would be released and Eitan would stay in Gaza. Since his release, Iair Horn has campaigned for his brother and the other hostages, flying frequently to the United States and meeting with politicians.
Bipin Joshi, 24
Bipin Joshi arrived in Israel from his native Nepal a month before the attack. He is the only non-Israeli hostage believed to be alive in Gaza. He came to Israel on a student exchange to work and study agriculture at kibbutz Alumim on the Gaza border. Ten of the 17 Nepali students in the program were killed during the attack. Joshi, who was able to throw a number of live grenades out of the bomb shelter where they were hiding, was injured and kidnapped. Joshi’s sister, 17-year-old Pushpa Joshi, regularly travels eight hours each direction on buses to Kathmandu from her home in western Nepal to lobby officials to secure her brother’s release. In August, his family traveled to Israel to meet with President Isaac Herzog and join families demonstrating in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square.
Segev Kalfon, 27
Segev Kalfon was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he was last seen attempting to flee militants along the highway. Before the attack, he worked at his family’s bakery in Dimona, in southern Israeli. The middle child of three, Kalfon had recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, a condition his family has highlighted in urging his release. Kalfon’s family received a sign of life from him after the last ceasefire, when some of the hostages said they were held with him for months. Kalfon’s family has focused on religious rituals in their fight for his release, including traveling to the grave of prominent rabbis and dedicating a Torah scroll in his honor.
Bar Kupershtein, 23
Bar Kupershtein was working at the Nova festival as a security guard when he was abducted. Witnesses said Kupershtein stayed at the festival to try to provide first aid to people who had been shot and injured. Kupershtein was the main financial support for his family after his father was severely injured in an accident several years ago, his aunt, Ora Rubinstein, told reporters. She said that his father worked with a physical therapist to regain the ability to speak, so he could meet with politicians to advocate for his son’s release. He has told the family that he will walk again when his son comes home, she said.
Omri Miran, 48
Omri Miran was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz. During the attack, militants held his family, including his two daughters, ages 2 and 6 months, hostage in the kitchen of a neighbor’s house and then broadcast it on Facebook Live. Miran and the father of the other family, Tsachi Idan, were kidnapped. Idan’s body was released during the last hostage exchange after he was killed in captivity. Lishay Miran Lavi, Miran’s wife, said their younger daughter knows “daddy Omri” only through photos and videos, and doesn’t really understand what a father is.
Eitan Mor, 25
Eitan Mor was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival, where he helped evacuate people injured in the attack. Mor’s parents helped found the Tikva Forum, a loosely organized group of hostage families. They advocated for military pressure, not an immediate ceasefire or hostage release deal, as the best chance for bringing the hostages home. That stance has put Mor’s father at odds with many of the other families of hostages.
Tamir Nimrodi, 20
Tamir Nimrodi was kidnapped from Erez, a crossing on the northern border of Gaza that had been the main route for people entering and leaving the territory. He had been serving with the Israeli defense body overseeing humanitarian aid in Gaza. Nimrodi was kidnapped with two other soldiers by militants who walked them to the Gaza gate and forced them to cross. Israel confirmed the deaths of the two soldiers who were kidnapped with Nimrodi. There has been no sign of life from Nimrodi in the two years since he was seen in footage walking into Gaza in shorts and a T-shirt without his glasses. Herut Nimrodi, his mother, has said she doesn’t know what is worse: to think he has been killed in captivity, or that he’s alive but being held in terrible conditions. “I’m scared to even imagine,” she said.
Yosef-Chaim Ohana, 25
Yosef-Chaim Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he was working as a bartender. Witnesses saw him attempting to help others escape before he was kidnapped. He is the oldest of three brothers, one of whom previously died from an illness.
Alon Ohel, 24
Alon Ohel, who also has German and Serbian citizenship, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival from a mobile bomb shelter along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli who was killed in captivity in August 2024. A talented pianist, his family has placed pianos across Israel and several sites around the world to raise awareness of his plight. Three other hostages who had been held with Ohel for more than a year were released during the previous ceasefire, including Eli Sharabi, who said Ohel was like his adopted son. Sharabi said they were kept chained for the entire period of their captivity and subsisted on a moldy pita per day. Ohel has shrapnel in his eye from the attack on the bomb shelter and his family is worried he may be partially blind.
Avinatan Or, 32
Avinatan Or was kidnapped from the Nova music festival along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024. On Oct. 7, Hamas released a video of the pair that has become one of the most well-known videos from that day. It showed Argamani on an all-terrain vehicle crying, “Don’t kill me!” and reaching out her arms to Or, who is being marched away from her by militants. Or worked in hi-tech in Tel Aviv before his abduction.
Matan Zangauker, 25
Matan Zangauker was kidnapped from kibbutz Nir Oz along with his girlfriend, Ilana Gritzewsky. The two met while working on a medical cannabis farm there. Gritzewsky was released after 55 days and has since advocated tirelessly for his release, wearing a hat of Zangauker’s she rescued from their burned home. His mother, Einav, has been a constant presence at protests, giving impassioned speeches and even being hoisted in a cage above the crowd to draw attention to the hostages’ plight. Zangauker, who said she was previously a Netanyahu supporter, has emerged as one of his harshest critics. ___
Associated Press writer Sam Metz contributed from Jerusalem.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s army said Saturday that it would advance preparations for the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and return all the remaining hostages.
The army said it was instructed by Israel’s leaders to “advance readiness” for the implementation of the plan. An official who was not authorized to speak to the media on the record said that Israel has moved to a defensive-only position in Gaza and will not actively strike. The official said no forces have been removed from the strip.
This announcement came hours after Trump ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza once Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan. Trump welcomed the Hamas statement, saying: “I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE.”
Trump appears keen to deliver on pledges to end the war and return dozens of hostages ahead of the second anniversary of the attack on Tuesday. His proposal unveiled earlier this week has widespread international support and was also endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Friday, Netanyahu’s office said Israel was committed to ending the war that began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, without addressing potential gaps with the militant group. Netanyahu has come under increasing pressure from the international community and Trump to end the conflict. The official told the AP that Netanyahu put out the rare late-night statement on the sabbath saying that Israel has started to prepare for Trump’s plan due to pressure from the U.S. administration.
The official also said that a negotiating team was getting ready to travel, but there was no date specified.
A senior Egyptian official says talks are underway for the release of hostages, as well as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. The official, who is involved in the ceasefire negotiations, also said Arab mediators are preparing for a comprehensive dialogue among Palestinians. The talks are aimed at unifying the Palestinian position toward Gaza’s future.
On Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful militant group in Gaza, said it accepted Hamas’ response to the Trump plan. The group had previously rejected the proposal days earlier.
Also on Saturday, Gaza’s Health Ministry said that the death toll in the nearly two-year Israel-Hamas war has topped 67,000 Palestinians. The death toll jumped after the ministry said it added more than 700 names to the list whose data had been verified.
Gaza’s Health Ministry does not say how many were civilians or combatants. It says women and children make up around half the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
Progress, but uncertainty ahead
Yet, despite the momentum, a lot of questions remain.
Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages – around 20 of them believed to be alive – within three days. It would also give up power and disarm.
In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of the territory, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.
Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians. Its official statement also didn’t address the issue of Hamas demilitarizing, a key part of the deal.
Amir Avivi, a retired Israeli general and chairman of Israel’s Defense and Security Forum, said while Israel can afford to stop firing for a few days in Gaza so the hostages can be released, it will resume its offensive if Hamas doesn’t lay down its arms.
Others say that while Hamas suggests a willingness to negotiate, its position fundamentally remains unchanged.
This “yes, but” rhetoric “simply repackages old demands in softer language,” said Oded Ailam, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs. The gap between appearance and action is as wide as ever and the rhetorical shift serves more as a smoke screen than a signal of true movement toward resolution, he said.
Unclear what it means for Palestinians suffering in Gaza
The next steps are also unclear for Palestinians in Gaza who are trying to piece together what it means in real terms.
“What we want is practical implementation. … We want a truce on the ground,” said Samir Abdel-Hady, in Gaza’s Khan Younis. He worried that talks will break down like they’ve done in the past.
Israeli troops are still laying siege to Gaza City, which is the focus of its latest offensive. On Saturday Israel’s army warned Palestinians against trying to return to the city calling it a “dangerous combat zone”.
Experts determined that Gaza City had slid into famine shortly before Israel launched its major offensive there aimed at occupying it. An estimated 400,000 people have fled the city in recent weeks, but hundreds of thousands more have stayed behind.
Families of the hostages are also cautious about being hopeful.
There are concerns from all sides, said Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held in Gaza. Hamas and Netanyahu could sabotage the deal or Trump could lose interest, he said. Still, he says, if it’s going to happen it will be because of Trump.
“We’re putting our trust in Trump, because he’s the only one who’s doing it. … And we want to see him with us until the last step,” he said.
The Palestinian militant organization Hamas has urgently called on the Israeli army to cease its attacks on Gaza City for 24 hours.
The lives of two Israeli hostages are in real danger, according to a statement from the military wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades.
The troops must also immediately withdraw to an area south of Street 8 in Gaza City so that an attempt can be made to “extract” the two hostages. This, they said, is a warning.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
The demand for a halt to the attacks is to take effect from 6 pm (1500 GMT), the statement said.
The al-Qassam Brigades had earlier stated that contact with the two hostages had been lost in the last 48 hours due to the intense Israeli attacks in the city.
It was initially unclear whether Israel would comply with the demand.
The relatives of the 48 remaining hostages - including 20 still alive - have repeatedly warned of the danger a ground offensive in Gaza City poses to their loved ones.
People are seen outside a building damaged in an Israeli air strike. Hasan Alzaanin/TASS via ZUMA Press/dpa
A coalition of peace activist groups launched a new campaign, advocating for a peaceful end to the Israel-Hamas War.
The “It’s Time Coalition,” a collection of over 60 Israeli and Arab pro-two-state solution organizations, began a campaign on Sunday calling for the recognition of a Palestinian state and an end to the Israel-Hamas War.
The coalition described itself as the largest peace initiative in Israel.
Activists from the “It’s Time Coalition” call for recognition of a Palestinian state, September 21, 2025. (credit: COURTESY IT’S TIME COALITION)
The center of the campaign is a two-minute video featuring members of the participating organizations sharing their hopes for peace and urging the Israeli government to accept a two-state solution as suggested at a United Nations conference in July.
Decrying claims that recognition of a Palestinian state would reward Hamas for the October 7 massacre, the activists state that they believe that “the states partaking in this initiative are on our side,” as the UN resolution calls for an immediate end to the war and thus an end to the “sacrifice of soldier,” “destruction of a people,” and “abandonment” of the 48 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.
Coalition activists regard the proposed UN resolution as “a historic opportunity to move from death to life, from stagnation to progress to a future of security and freedom for both people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conferene at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerursalem, September 16, 2025. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
In one section of the video, it is stated that “I will not concede to living in Sparta or in Super-Sparta,” a direct reference to a recent speech given by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The speech was criticized by many as “isolationist.”
The featured group of activists expressed their desire to work together, across cultural and religious differences, to create a “different reality of peace, security, compassion, and justice,” asserting that “it’s time” to bring about an end to the almost two year war.
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of grieving and angry Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting “Now! Now!” as they demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.
The mass outpouring appeared to be the largest such demonstration in 11 months of war and protesters said it felt like a possible turning point, although the country is deeply divided.
The military said all six had been killed shortly before the arrival of Israeli forces.
Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, further pressured the government by calling a general strike for Monday, the first since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war. It aims to shut down or disrupt major sectors of the economy, including banking, health care and the country’s main airport.
Cease-fire negotiations have dragged on for months. Many blame Netanyahu for failing to reach a deal, which opinion polls show a majority of Israelis favor. But the prime minister also has significant support for his strategy of “total victory” against Hamas, even if a deal for the hostages has to wait.
Thousands of people, some of them weeping, gathered Sunday night outside Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, hostages’ relatives marched with coffins to symbolize the toll.
“We really think that the government is making these decisions for its own conservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!'” said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.
Three of the six hostages found dead – including an Israeli-American – were reportedly scheduled to be released in the first phase of a cease-fire proposal discussed in July, and this only added to the sense of fury and frustration among the protesters.
“Nothing is worse than knowing that they could have been saved,” said Dana Loutaly. “Sometimes it takes something so awful to shake people up and get them out into the streets.”
The military said all six hostages were killed shortly before Israeli forces arrived. “Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal,” Netanyahu said, blaming the Hamas militant group for the stalled negotiations.
One hostage was Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, a native of Berkeley, California, who lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him alive, sparking new protests in Israel.
The army identified the others as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; and Carmel Gat, 40.
The Israeli Health Ministry said autopsies had determined the hostages were shot at close range and died on Thursday or Friday. The army said the bodies were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, around a kilometer (half a mile) from where another hostage was rescued alive last week.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesperson, said Israeli forces found the bodies several dozen meters (yards) underground as “ongoing combat” was underway, but that there was no firefight in the tunnel itself. He said there was no doubt Hamas had killed them.
Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
Izzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, said the hostages would still be alive if Israel had accepted a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal that Hamas said it had agreed to in July.
Funerals began, with more outrage. Sarusi’s body was wrapped in an Israeli flag. “You were abandoned on and on, daily, hour after hour, 331 days,” his mother, Nira, said. “You and so many beautiful and pure souls.”
Divisions in Israel, and in the government
Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
Top security officials say the intense pressure on Hamas has created favorable conditions for a cease-fire deal. The army, noting the difficulty of rescue operations, has acknowledged that a deal is the only way to bring home large numbers of hostages safely.
But critics have accused the prime minister of putting his personal interests over those of the hostages. The war’s end likely will lead to an investigation into his government’s failures in the Oct. 7 attacks, the government’s collapse and early elections.
Some analysts said the public outcry over the six hostages who died could signal a new level of political pressure on Netanyahu.
“I think this is an earthquake. This isn’t just one more step in the war,” said Nomi Bar-Yaacov, associate fellow in the International Security Program at Chatham House, shortly before Sunday’s protests.
Divisions also have been exposed within the government. Senior military and security officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have warned that time is running out.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu got into a shouting match at a security Cabinet meeting Thursday with Gallant, who accused him of prioritizing control of a strategic corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border – a major sticking point in the talks – over the lives of the hostages.
An Israeli official confirmed the report and said three of the hostages – Goldberg-Polin, Yerushalmi and Gat – had been slated to be released in the first phase of a cease-fire proposal discussed in July. The official was not authorized to brief media about the negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“In the name of the state of Israel, I hold their families close to my heart and ask forgiveness,” Gallant said Sunday. The Cabinet was meeting Sunday night.
A forum of hostage families has demanded a “complete halt of the country” to push for a cease-fire and hostage release.
Even a mass outpouring of anger would not immediately threaten Netanyahu or his far right government. He still controls a majority in parliament. But he has caved in to public pressure before. A general strike last year helped lead to a delay in his controversial judicial overhaul.
A family’s high-profile campaign
Goldberg-Polin’s parents, U.S.-born immigrants to Israel, became perhaps the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage. They met with U.S. President Joe Biden and Pope Francis and on Aug. 21, they addressed the Democratic National Convention – after sustained applause and chants of “bring him home.”
Biden on Sunday said he was “devastated and outraged.” The White House said he spoke with Goldberg-Polin’s parents and offered condolences.
Some 250 hostages were taken on Oct. 7. Israel now believes 101 remain in captivity, including 35 who are thought to be dead. More than 100 were freed during a cease-fire in November in exchange for the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Eight have been rescued by Israeli forces. Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israelis who escaped captivity in December.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, when they stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not say how many were militants.
On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit a car on a road in southern Gaza and killed four Palestinians, according to Aqsa Martyrs Hospital officials and an AP journalist who counted the bodies.
The war has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, often multiple times, and plunged the besieged territory into a humanitarian catastrophe.
___
Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo, Danica Kirka in London and Darlene Superville in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Marking nine months since the war in Gaza started, Israeli protesters blocked highways across the country Sunday, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down and pushing for a cease-fire to bring back scores of hostages held by Hamas.
The demonstrations come as long-running efforts to broker a truce gained momentum last week when Hamas dropped a key demand for an Israeli commitment to end the war. The militant group is still seeking a permanent cease-fire, while Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed.
Sunday’s “Day of Disruption” started at 6:29 a.m., the same time Hamas militants launched the first rockets toward Israel in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war. Protesters blocked main roads and demonstrated outside of the homes of government ministers.
Near the border with Gaza, Israeli protestors released 1,500 black and yellow balloons to symbolize those fellow citizens who were killed and abducted.
Hannah Golan said she came to protest the “devastating abandonment of our communities by our government.” She added: “It’s nine months today, to this black day, and still nobody in our government takes responsibility.”
Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people in the surprise attack and took 250 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
About 120 hostages remain captive after more than 100 hostages were released as part of a November cease-fire deal. Israel has already concluded that more than 40 of the remaining hostages are dead, and there are fears that the number will grow as the war drags on.
The United States has rallied the world behind a proposal for a phased cease-fire in which Hamas would release the remaining captives in return for a lasting cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But Hamas wants guarantees from mediators that the war will end, while Israel wants the freedom to resume fighting if talks over releasing the last batch of hostages drag on.
Netanyahu has also said Israel is still committed to destroying Hamas’ military and governing abilities, and that it would resume the war after a pause to release hostages.
Israel continues to battle pockets of Palestinian militants across Gaza after months of heavy bombing and ground operations that have devastated the territory’s main cities and displaced most of its population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. On Sunday, Israel issued new evacuation orders for parts of Gaza City, which was heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war.
Bodies found with hands tied
The Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis said the bodies of three Palestinians were retrieved from the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel. A hospital statement said they were handcuffed, and an Associated Press reporter saw one of the bodies with bound hands.
Abdel-Hadi Ghabaeen, an uncle of one of the deceased, said they had been working to secure the delivery of humanitarian aid and commercial shipments through the crossing. He said he saw soldiers detain them on Saturday, and that the bodies bore signs of beatings, with one having a broken leg.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.
Thousands of Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war, and many of those who have been released, as well as some Israelis who have worked at detention facilities, say detainees have been tortured and held under harsh conditions. Israeli authorities have denied abusing prisoners.
Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Sunday meanwhile killed at least 13 Palestinians, including the undersecretary of labor in the largely dismantled Hamas-run government.
Ihab al-Ghussein was among four people killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense, a first responders group under the Hamas-run government. Hamas mourned his loss in a statement and said a strike earlier in the war had destroyed his house and killed his wife and daughter.
The Israeli military said it had struck a militant complex “in the area of a school building,” as well as a nearby Hamas weapons-making facility in Gaza City after taking steps to mitigate harm to civilians.
Israel trades fire with Hezbollah
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said early Sunday that it launched dozens of projectiles toward northern Israel, targeting areas more than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, deeper than most launches. A 28-year-old man was seriously wounded, Israel’s national rescue service reported.
Another attack near the border wounded three people, one of them seriously, according to the Galilee Medical Center. Israeli media reported that the critically wounded individual was an American citizen. There was no immediate confirmation from the army.
Hezbollah began launching rocket and mortar attacks after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The range and severity of the attacks and Israel’s counterstrikes have escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of an all-out war that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border.
Mediators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have intensified their efforts in the past week to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza.
The compromise on Saturday by Hamas could lead to the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks, though all sides still warned that a deal is not yet guaranteed.
Washington’s phased deal would start with a “full and complete” six-week cease-fire during which older, sick and female hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During those 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza.
War-weary Palestinians in the Gaza Strip appeared pessimistic, after previous instances in which the two sides appeared to be closing in on a deal.
“We have lived nine months of suffering,” said Heba Radi, a mother of six children living in a tent in the central city of Deir al-Balah, where she has been sheltering since they fled their home in Gaza City. “The cease-fire has become a distant dream.”
___ Magdy reported from Cairo.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Omer Neutra grew up in Long Island, New York, served as captain of his Jewish day school basketball team and worked as a lifeguard. He joined the Israel Defense Forces four years ago, and was serving as a tank commander when taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7.
I spoke to his mother and father, Orna and Ronen Neutra, before they left for Israel on Tuesday. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Omer turned 22 a week after he was taken hostage. What did you do on his birthday?
Orna Neutra: Omer was born on Oct. 14, one month after 9/11. We couldn’t believe that that was happening then and we just can’t believe that he’s involved in this prolonged terrorist attack now. On his birthday we had friends and family over to our house on Long Island and had a birthday cake with candles. But we didn’t blow them out. We just let them burn down. Only Omer can blow out his candles on his birthday.
Do you agree with those who say Israel shouldn’t have hit an Iranian target in Syria earlier this month because it would focus attention away from the hostages?
Ronen Neutra: We’re not politicians, but we are very concerned right now that the focus has changed and that the situation with Iran is taking attention away from the real pressing issue — the hostages.
Orna Neutra: I hear world leaders condemning the missile attack on Israel and I want to remind them that there are citizens of many countries still being held hostage in Gaza, and people of different religions. All of these countries should stand up and demand the release of the hostages as well.
Do you spend time in his childhood room?
Ronen Neutra: Omer has been in Israel for a good four years. He basically moved out and has an apartment near Tel Aviv. We have rented a different apartment near his. We are preparing it for his homecoming. And when we go to Israel, we stay there.
Orna Neutra: Omer’s childhood room was a big mess just like any other kid’s. He built a life in Israel. But he is very social and his network there and in the U.S. is very big. So many people have reached out to us, from United Synagogue Youth, where he was a regional president, and from the Solomon Schechter School from which he graduated. Omer would remember that when Gilad Shalit was a hostage, Schechter students would pray for him every day. Omer now must know that his high school is similarly keeping him in their prayers.
Are American Jews doing enough to push for the release of the hostages?
Orna Neutra: In our community there’s a rally every Sunday on behalf of the hostages. I know there are rallies all over the United States within the different Jewish communities. But it’s not enough. There’s still a large, silent crowd that needs to speak up.
Ronen Neutra: If you look at the results, we have failed. For six months we have been fighting this fight. We’ve got to do different things in order to get them released because doing the same thing and expecting different results is not working.
What do you do to stay hopeful?
Orna Neutra: I say a verse of the Psalms — Psalm 23 — every day to send him protection. We know that many people around the world are doing similar things, praying for him and doing all kinds of deeds with him in mind. Omer is a very positive person by nature. He’s very empathetic himself. We really hope that he’s able to survive this — but for how much longer can he be a hostage?
