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Hostages families forum blames Netanyahu for death of captives
The bodies of six hostages were recovered from a Gazan tunnel less than a kilometer from where another hostage was rescued alive last week
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the deaths of six hostages whose bodies were returned to Israel.
"For 11 months, the Israeli government led by Netanyahu failed to do what a government is expected to do - return its sons and daughters home," the forum said in a statement.
A joint Shin Bet security agency and Israel Defense Forces operation recovered the bodies on Saturday night from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. The remains were identified as belonging to Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, and Eden Yerushalmi, all of whom were taken alive by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
"A deal for the return of the abductees has been on the table for over two months," the forum said. "If it weren't for the thwarting [of the deal], the excuses and the spins, the abductees whose deaths we learned of this morning would probably be alive.
"Enough with the excuses. Enough with the spins. Enough of the procrastination!
The time has come to return our abductees home - the living for rehabilitation and the victims and the murdered for burial in their own country."
The spokesperson for the Israeli military, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said that the six were "brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them."
He added that the bodies were found in a tunnel less than a kilometer from where Qaid Farhan Alkadi was rescued alive last week.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his thoughts and heart were with the families of the victims, commending security forces for the "complex operation to retrieve the bodies of the hostages for burial in Israel."
President Isaac Herzog wrote a post on X to "apologize for failing to bring them home safely."
"The blood of our brothers cries out to us," he said. "Our sisters and brothers are still there enduring Hell. The supreme covenant between the state and its citizens is to ensure their safety. We have the sacred and urgent mission to bring them home."