Family of US-Israeli hostages still in Gaza demand Netanyahu push for cease-fire deal after captives found dead
The families of American-Israeli hostages in Gaza demanded Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu push harder for a cease-fire deal with Hamas after the deaths of six more captives.
Dual US-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin was among the hostages found dead in Rafah on Saturday, and Hamas is believed to still be holding four living Americans and three who have perished.
“The tragic murder of Hersh, just months after we all saw his face in a hostage video released by Hamas, is nothing short of vicious and senseless,” the families said in a joint statement.
“It is more proof that Hamas is killing hostages in captivity,” they said. “And it is a cruel reminder that with each passing day, the chances of bringing anyone home alive are at grave risk.
“For the last 331 days, we warned that this could happen. Enough is enough.”
Cease-fire negotiations have stalled for months as Netanyahu has vowed to not stop until Hamas is destroyed while the terror group has rejected nearly every proposal unless Israel pulls out of Gaza altogether and ends the attacks.
Hamas has also requested the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners — including high-profile Hamas militants — as part of the prisoner-hostage exchange.
Along with Goldberg-Polin, the victims whose bodies were recovered Saturday were identified as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33, and Carmel Gat, 40.
Israeli forces noted that they were killed shortly before they found the hostages as Hamas intentionally slaughtered them before they could be rescued alive.
“Whoever murders hostages doesn’t want a deal,” Netanyahu said, blaming the Hamas for the lack of a deal.
Israel’s health ministry confirmed that all six hostages were killed by short-range shots two to three days before their bodies were found.
The bodies were found in Rafah, the southern Gaza hub where the Biden-Harris administration had repeatedly pushed for Israel to avoid direct action, with President Joe Biden previously saying it would cross a “red line.”
Donald Trump on Sunday slammed Biden and Harris for the deaths, blaming the horrific loss on the Dem pair’s “poor” leadership.
“They have blood on their hands!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This terror would have never happened if I were President, and it will stop the day I am back in the Oval Office.”
Both the president and vice president spoke with Goldberg-Polin’s parents, with Harris tweeting about her phone call with the heartbroken mom and dad alongside her husband, Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish.
“I told them: As they mourn this terrible loss, they are not alone,” Harris said. “Our nation mourns with them.”
Biden said in a statement, “I am devastated and outraged.
“Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes,” he said.
Dozens of hostage supporters also gathered near the corner of Second Avenue and East 42nd Street in Manhattan on Sunday to hold a memorial service for the six victims.
The impromptu event was meant to be held on the grounds of the nearby Israeli Consulate building, but organizers told The Post that Israeli officials did not let them to gather there Sunday. Larger planned services have been allowed on the property.
Stephanie Benshimol, one of the organizers, said everyone was heartbroken over the news of the deaths as the group called for all the hostages to be freed.
“It’s very, very sad, because they’re young and they were supposed to come home,” Benshimol said.
“They’re all suffering, and when they suffer, we suffer, and we want everyone home now: the dead bodies for proper burial and the alive bodies to come home to their family,” she added.
The event drew some anti-Israeli hecklers who shouted, “From the river to the sea!” at the group of mourners, with police called on to intervene in a clash between two men and the memorial attendees.
Lobanov, whose funeral took place Sunday, was a father of two who was working as a bar manager at the Nova music festival when Hamas attacked, killing 364 civilians, during the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Witnesses have said Lobanov helped others evacuate and reach safety at the Be-eri forest before the Palestinian group captured him, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Danino had successfully escaped the festival massacre but opted to go back to try and help others when he was kidnapped, the forum added.
His partner, Liel Avraham — who called him a “hero” — had posted a photo of the pair online a month ago, writing the now-heartbreaking message, “I’m waiting for you.”
Several hostages who were freed during a brief cease-fire in November said Gat, an occupational therapist, helped them endure more than a month of captivity by teaching them mediation and yoga.
“Sorry Carmeli,” Gat’s grieving cousin wrote on X on Sunday. “If only you saw how your friends fought to get you back alive.”
The remaining American-Israelis still trapped in Gaza have been identified as Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Officials have confirmed the deaths of Judith Weinstein Haggai, Gadi Haggai and Itay Chen.
The latest hostage deaths have triggered intense backlash against Netanyahu, who has been accused of prioritizing his terms in the stalled cease-fire negotiations rather than the safety of the captives.
The prime minister rejected a deal last week to abandon the Philadelphi Corridor, a buffer strip along the Egypt-Gaza border, to progress the cease-fire talks, a move that was feared would doom at least some hostages.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Netanyahu on Friday that the decision would cost hostages their lives. The six bodies were found the next day.
Israel’s largest union, along with other labor organizations and municipalities, has announced a massive strike set for Monday in protest of the deaths and to call on Netanyahu’s government to finally accept a deal.
Netanyahu has yet to respond to the calls for the strike, but the prime minister claimed Sunday that it was Hamas that did not want a deal to go forward, reiterating his calls to destroy the terror group.
“Whoever murdered our abductees – does not want a deal. Whoever murdered our abductors – blood on his head,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “We will hunt and get him and we will come to an account with him.”
Dov Hikind, one of the activists who held the demonstration in Manhattan, agreed with Netanyahu and said Israel must be allowed to eradicate Hamas.
“The Israeli government, the people of Israel, they must be permitted to finish the job against Hamas,” Hinkid said. “You do not negotiate.
“You do not deal with an organization that commits the kind of horrors that were committed, the kind of horrors that were committed on October 7 and since October 7,” he added.
With Post wires
