A report by Nada Andraos, English adaptation by Nadine Sassine
Two days after the message sent by the parents of the US hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, when they, along with several families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, took action near the separation fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, demanding the completion of a prisoner exchange deal.
And also, two days after this move and other actions that have been troubling Israel internally, the bodies of six hostages, including Hersh, the hostage who holds US citizenship, were discovered. The six hostages bodies were found in Rafah in one of the tunnels, 20 meters deep and just one kilometer away from the location of Farhan al-Qadi, the Bedouin who was found alive by the Israeli army a few days ago.
Hersh’s parents, like other families of the prisoners, who had intensified their actions to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire and release the hostages, brought their son's case into the US presidential campaigns. From the platform of Kamala Harris’s campaign, they called for an end to their son's tragedy and the other hostages.
In the Gaza Strip, after the discovery of the six bodies, it is estimated that the remaining hostagess held by Hamas, both alive and dead, number 100, including 7 Americans. Their case is one of the points of contention between Netanyahu and the Biden administration, which insists on a ceasefire and the release of the hostages, while Netanyahu continues to reject deal after deal.
Following the announcement of the discovery of Hersh Goldberg’s body, US President Joe Biden expressed his anger and sadness over his death, stating that Hersh, like others, 'was among innocent people who were brutally attacked during a music festival in Israel.' He emphasized that they are working around the clock to reach an agreement to release the remaining hostages, vowing that Hamas leaders would pay for the crimes they have committed.
For her part, Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced that she and Biden would never abandon their commitment to freeing the American hostages held in the Gaza Strip.