U.S. President Joe Biden announced on the 31st (local time) that the bodies of six hostages kidnapped by Hamas were recovered from a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, including one American citizen of Israeli descent.
According to Reuters, President Biden issued a statement that day, saying, “Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages held by Hamas in the Rafashi tunnel this morning,” and “We have confirmed that one of the hostages is U.S. citizen Hershey Goldberg-Pauline.”
“I’m devastated and angry,” Biden said. “She had just turned 23 and was planning to travel the world. I send my deepest condolences to (Goldberg-Pauline)’s parents.”
“Hamas leaders will pay the price for this crime,” he said, adding that he would work “day and night” to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, also said she “strongly condemns Hamas’ continued brutality” and that “our commitment to free Americans and all those held hostage in Gaza will never waver.”
Goldberg-Pauline was one of 251 hostages taken by Hamas in a surprise attack on October 7 last year while attending a local music festival.
Goldberg-Pauline was hiding in a bunker with others during the incident, but was surrounded by Hamas militants armed with grenades and eventually kidnapped.
In a later Hamas video, Goldberg-Pauline was seen being loaded into a pickup truck with his left arm amputated below the elbow. He also appeared in another video released by Hamas in April, saying he was “living in hell.”
The Israeli military announced that on this day, along with Goldberg-Polin, they recovered the bodies of the hostages Kamel Ghat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Saroush, and Ori Danino from the tunnel and transferred them to Israel.
“According to our initial estimates, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached our destination,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
Hamas has not yet made any specific statement on this matter.
The Israeli military believes dozens of hostages kidnapped by Hamas have died and about 100 are being held in the Gaza Strip.
Goldberg-Pauline’s parents spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, last month. They also protested with hostage families near the Gaza border on Monday.
Israeli forces also recovered the bodies of six Hamas hostages from the tunnel in Khan Yunis on August 20.
(Seoul = News 1)
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2024-09-02 16:22:31