In April, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a video featuring Goldberg-Polin, where he criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six captives found inside a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, confirming their identities.
The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas stated that these detainees were killed due to the ongoing Israeli bombings in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden confirmed that one of the bodies recovered was that of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American citizen.
In April, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a video featuring Goldberg-Polin, where he criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, accusing it of neglect and failure to secure the release of himself and other detainees.
The video showed Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 24-year-old Israeli-American citizen, who stated that he was born in California and resided with his family in occupied Jerusalem.
The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six captives found inside a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, confirming their identities.
According to Israeli media, the names of three captives were included in the exchange agreement of July 2, which… pic.twitter.com/unk0poPxbQ
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 1, 2024
Addressing Netanyahu and his government, Goldberg-Polin expressed frustration, saying, “Every day we are here, you ignore us more and more and ignore our blood.”
He then urged, “Do what is expected of you and return us to our homes immediately, or has this become too much for you?”
He expressed deep disappointment with the government’s efforts, stating, “it is time to hand over the keys, evacuate the ministries, and stay in your homes.”
He accused the government of neglect, saying they had abandoned the captives for 200 days and that the Israeli Air Force’s actions had resulted in the deaths of about 70 captives like him.
Goldberg-Polin also criticized the government for rejecting all proposed deals during negotiations to release the captives, asking, “Don’t you want to end this nightmare?”
He painted a grim picture of the conditions in captivity, describing life as “hell underground without water, food, or sunlight,” and mentioned that he was not receiving the medical treatment he needed.
In this video, Hergh Goldberg Polin, one of the captives whose bodies were recovered today, accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of neglecting them.
“Netanyahu, you neglected us. Don't you want to end this nightmare?
“Bring us home immediately.”
Goldberg Polin… pic.twitter.com/uAAnTwx4WV
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) September 1, 2024
‘Go out and Protest’
Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity party, called on the public to protest, stating that “it’s time to replace this total failure of a government,” referring to Netanyahu’s leadership.
In a post on X, the Israeli politician accused Netanyahu of being “hesitant, scared and is playing for time for political reasons rather than take action. A game that is costing lives.”
For his part, opposition leader Yair Lapid echoed Gantz’s sentiments, stating that Netanyahu and what he called the “government of death” had decided not to rescue the captives. He urged labor unions and local authorities to shut down the economy in protest.
Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a senior Israeli official saying that Netanyahu is preventing an agreement from being reached to avoid the collapse of his government, predicting that within a month, “no hostage will remain alive in Gaza.”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ally of Netanyahu, commented on the recovery of the captives’ bodies in Gaza, stating, “We will continue to strike Hamas until it is completely destroyed and our sons are returned.” He condemned the use of the captives’ deaths for political purposes.
In response to the criticism, Netanyahu said in a statement that “since December Hamas has been refusing to hold real negotiations.”
רצח חטופינו מביא אותנו לעוד בוקר קשה וכואב, ויחד עם כל עם ישראל אני מבקש לחבק את המשפחות שקיבלו את הבשורה הקשה מכל ולחזק את צה״ל וכוחות הביטחון בהמשך עשייתם.
מולנו רוצחים מתועבים, בראשם סינוואר, ודינם אחד – מוות. הם שהביאו למותם של חטופינו.
אך לצערי, שלא כמו לוחמינו שמחרפים את… pic.twitter.com/CzZu8Q6zSi
— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) September 1, 2024
Amid these developments, the Israeli cabinet meeting was reportedly canceled, and a security ministerial team meeting was scheduled for the afternoon.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum called for a large-scale demonstration to demand a prisoner exchange deal.
Israeli media reported that demonstrators blocked the Weizmann Institute intersection in Rehovot, near Tel Aviv, to demand action on a prisoner exchange.
Yedioth Ahronoth also reported that three of the captives who were killed and whose bodies were recovered by the army had been included in a list approved by Hamas on July 2.
Israeli Army Radio quoted security officials suggesting that it might have been possible to recover four of the deceased captives through a prisoner exchange deal.
(PC, AJA)
