Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas from a music concert in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has been killed in the Gaza Strip, his family says.
In a statement early Sunday morning, the family issued a statement confirming the loss of their 23-year-old son 330 days after he was taken from southern Israel. They said the Israeli army had confirmed locating his body in Gaza.
“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,” it said. “The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.”
Hersh was among the bodies of six hostages that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had recently recovered from the underground tunnel in Gaza’s Khan Yunis that it captured from Hamas.
The IDF said it had reason to believe that the six were recently murdered by Hamas, possibly around a day or two, before the Israeli troops found them.
The other five have been identified as Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lubnov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 25.
(Top L–R) Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and Alexander Lobanov. (Bottom L–R) Carmel Gat, Ori Danino, and Almog Sarusi. (The Hostages Families Forum via AP)
U.S. President Joe Biden said he is “devastated and outraged” by the killing of Hersh.
“I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death. It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” he said.
Vice President Kamala Harris extended her sympathies to the Goldberg-Polin family.
She said in a statement that Hamas “must be eliminated” and cannot be allowed to control Gaza.
“I have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world. President Biden and I will never waver in our commitment to free the Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza,” Harris said.
“Hamas is an evil terrorist organization. With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world.”
Hersh was among 250 people taken hostage on Oct. 7. He was attending the music festival Tribe of Nova to celebrate his birthday at the time.
According to his mother, Rachel Goldberg, when the Hamas attack began, Hersh sought safety with a group of others in a bomb shelter. But the terrorists threw several grenades inside that blew his arm off. He was then taken back to Gaza, where he had been in captivity ever since.
“This isn’t an apolitical issue, it’s a humanitarian issue,” Goldberg told The Epoch Times at the DNC in August.
Hersh’s parents said as they addressed the DNC on Aug. 21 that the war has produced a “surplus of agony” for everyone involved and that “there are no winners” in what has become a “competition of pain.”
“In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region: a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza,” father Jon Polin said.
Since that day in October last year, the families of the American hostages meet regularly and are “heartened that both Democratic and Republican leaders demonstrate their bipartisan support for our hostages being released,” he said.
Hamas released a video in April of Goldberg-Polin clearly speaking under duress. The video sparked another round of protests in Israel calling for the immediate rescue of the hostages that Hamas refuses to release without Israel meeting its demands.
Some Israelis prioritize hostage return over the elimination of Hamas and would make concessions to Hamas to get them home.
The IDF successfully rescued another hostage from a Gaza tunnel this week after engaging in a shootout with Hamas: 52-year-old Bedouin and Israeli citizen Qaid Farhan Alkadi. The eighth hostage to be rescued alive, Alkadi was abducted from the community of Mivtahim.
Since Hamas’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tied the war effort against Hamas and the hostage rescue efforts together.
“We are working relentlessly to return all of our hostages,” he said in a statement this week. “We are doing this in two main ways: Negotiations and rescue operations. The two of these require our military presence on the ground and constant military pressure. We will continue to act until we return all of them home.”
Israel has said it believes about one-third of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza have been killed. Seven Americans are among those hostages.
Israel has agreed to allowing for periods of cease-fire beginning Sept. 1 from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time to allow for polio vaccinations in central Gaza, lasting at least three days, followed by another three-day pause in the south and north.
Stephen Katte contributed to this report.
