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US President Joe Biden: "Hamas Leadership Will Pay the Price"
The Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages who had been held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On the 1st (local time), the Israeli military confirmed that the six bodies found and recovered in the Gaza Strip the previous day were those of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 of last year, according to the American daily newspaper The New York Times (NYT).
According to major foreign media, the Israeli military announced that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip, stating that all of them were killed just before being rescued by the Israeli military. The bodies of these hostages were found in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The location where the bodies were found was only about 1 km away from the point where another hostage, Kaid Farhan Alkadi, was rescued by the Israeli military from a Gaza tunnel on the 27th of last month.
The identities of the hostages who returned as bodies this time were confirmed as American citizens Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Kamel Gat (40), Eden Yerushalmi (24), Alexander Lobanov (33), Almog Sarushi (27), and Ori Danino (25). All the bodies were transferred to Israel.
Upon confirmation that Americans were among the hostages, U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement saying, "I am deeply shocked and angry," and emphasized, "Let me be clear. The Hamas leadership will pay the price for these crimes. And we will continue to work tirelessly and relentlessly to secure the release of the remaining hostages."
With six hostage bodies found in the Gaza Strip, demands for the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire and hostage release agreement are expected to intensify. On the 1st, families of the hostages immediately called for large-scale protests to pressure the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release.
Israel and Hamas are continuing ceasefire and hostage negotiations mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, but the process is facing difficulties as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists on the "eradication of Hamas," is presenting tough conditions.
Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel last October, killing about 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. Among the captured hostages, more than 100 were released last year during a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and eight were rescued by the Israeli military.
The Israeli military stated that there are still 108 hostages in the Gaza Strip, and it is believed that about one-third of them have died.
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