Netanyahu under pressure on cease-fire deal after Israel recovers bodies of six hostages in Gaza

Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 'extremist' government are responsible for "the escalation of the dangerous situation and the killing of Israeli prisoners."

In a post on X, he blamed Netanyahu for refusing to a cease-fire and expanding the war in the West Bank.

"Netanyahu does not care about the lives of anyone, including Israeli prisoners, and his only concern is saving himself from accountability," he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to the family of Alexander Lobanov for not bringing him and the other five hostages back alive, according to a statement from the prime minister's office.

Lobanov, 32, will be buried in Ashkelon this afternoon. He is survived by his parents, wife and two children, one of whom was born while he was in captivity. Lobanov was working as a bar manager at the Supernova music festival, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. He had helped evacuate people and ran with five others to the Be’eri forest, where he was captured.

According to the prime minister's office Netanyahu will speak with the families of other hostages today.

Doctors without Borders says only 16 out of 36 hospitals are still functioning in Gaza.

It said Al-Aqsa hospital was under threat of attack, and called on "all parties to protect the last remaining hospitals."

A polio vaccination campaign began today in central Gaza, with a rare pause in fighting amid fears that the disease could spread beyond the enclave.

24 people have been killed in the occupied West Bank since Israel began its assault on the city of Jenin, according to Palestinian health officials.

The IDF launched a sweeping military operation Wednesday, carrying out airstrikes and deadly raids and sealing off the city of Jenin.

Of the Palestinians reported dead since Wednesday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have said at least 14 were members of their armed wings.

Three Israeli police officers were also killed in a shooting at a checkpoint in Hebron on Sunday.

Aviva Siegel, who was taken hostage by Hamas and released in November after 51 days in captivity, called for an end to the fighting and a deal that would bring the remaining hostages home.

Aviva Siegel, as she was being released in November's truce.Amir Cohen / Reuters file

In an interview with NBC News, she said her heart was "broken into pieces" following the recovery of the bodies of six hostages from Gaza on Saturday.

"We need them home, we need them home now as quick as possible," she said.

"Stop fighting, wars aren't good for anybody. People shouldn't be dead. You only get one chance to live. It needs to stop immediately to bring the hostages home. A deal is the only way to get them home safely."

"They need to come home alive as soon as possible before we get more dead bodies home."

Israel's far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has repeated calls for the government not to enter into a deal with Hamas that would see the release of Palestinian prisoners or sacrifice control of the Philadelphi corridor.

Ben-Gvir's position stands in opposition to a round of fresh calls from some ministers and hostage families for a cease-fire deal that would rescue the remaining hostages, after six were recovered dead from Gaza last night.

"Those who demand the release of thousands of terrorists and give Hamas control over the Philadelphia axis are intentionally abandoning the security of Israel’s citizens," he said. "The blood of the next murdered will be by his hands."

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called on the Israeli parliament to reverse a decision made Thursday that demands the Israel Defense Forces maintain a military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor as part of any cease-fire or hostage release deal.

Netanyahu's insistence that the IDF stay in the corridor has impeded recent cease-fire talks, and Thursday's vote drew outrage from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Ahead of the vote, local news outlets reported conflict between Gallant and Netanyahu over the impact the Philadelphi Corridor decision would have on hostages.

"The political-security cabinet must convene immediately and reverse the decision made on Thursday," Gallant, who voted against the original decision, posted on X.

"It’s too late for the abductees who were murdered in cold blood. The abductees who remain in the captivity of Hamas must be returned home."

The Hostages Families and Missing Families forum is organizing protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Sunday, after the recovery of six hostages last night added urgency to calls for a deal what could save the remaining captives.

It said the first protest will take place at 4 p.m. local time in Jerusalem at the joint square, with another "massive" protest taking place at 7 p.m. at Begin Gate in Tel Aviv.

Daniel Lifshitz, grandson of hostage Oded Lifshitz, said they were protesting to pressure their government to "seal the deal," in reference to a cease-fire deal that would see the remaining hostages returned to Israel.

"That's what we have asked for," he said. "That is what our demand is."

Gil Dickmann accused the ultranationalist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, of sabotaging a cease-fire deal that would have led to the release of his cousin, Carmel Gat, whose body was recovered from Gaza yesterday.

Smotrich, chairman of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, objected to a plan presented by President Joe Biden in May that aimed to end the war in Gaza and return all hostages.

Dickmann slammed Smotrich on X for posting a picture of his cousin Carmel Gat among the others whose bodies were found.

"You foiled the deal that would bring her home. You were proud of it. You said that bringing them home 'isn’t the most important thing.'

And now they are dead.

Don’t talk about 'dancing on the blood'.

"If you had an ounce of responsibility and respect for the human life you wasted, you would be ashamed to publish her picture this morning."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is mourning for the hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza, and accused Hamas of "unimaginable cruelty."

"Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the depths of my soul by the terrible cold-blooded murder of six of our abductees," he said.

"I say to the Hamas terrorists who murdered our abductees and I say to their leaders — your blood is on your head. We will not rest and we will not be silent. We will pursue you, we will catch up with you and we will bring you to account.

He went on to accuse Hamas of refusing to conduct cease-fire negotiations. Both sides have repeatedly accused the other of obstructing a deal.

The "humanitarian pauses" to allow a mass polio vaccination campaign has begun today in central Gaza as aid groups work to prevent an outbreak of the virus.

Israel and Hamas agreed to three separate three-day pauses in fighting, starting Sunday in central Gaza, to allow for the vaccination of some 640,000 children against polio amid fears that the outbreak of the potentially fatal virus could spread beyond the territory.

In a post on X, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for UNWRA, called on both sides to respect the temporary pauses in fighting.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called on the head of the Israeli parliament to convene the Knesset "as early as tomorrow" to discuss a deal to release the remaining hostages and "save the abductees who are still alive."

"We have no time to waste," he said in a post on X. "Their deaths could have been avoided. It was possible to reach a deal. There is a majority for such a deal in the people, there is a majority for such a deal in the Knesset."

The bodies of the six hostages are still being examined and the IDF is not yet in a position to say exactly how and when they were killed, Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesman, told reporters on Sunday. 

The IDF has said the hostages “were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them” in a tunnel in Rafah.

But Shoshani was not able to say if the hostages were killed by gunfire or what time they were killed. He did say there was no exchange of gunfire between IDF troops and Hamas fighters in the tunnel, so the IDF was confident they were not accidentally killed by the advancing Israeli soldiers.

Gil Dickmann posted an emotional tribute to his cousin Carmel Gat, whose body was recovered from Gaza yesterday.

"Sorry, Carmeli. Sorry we didn’t stop when it was still possible. Sorry we let them kill you.

I wish you saw and heard us. I wish that even though you saw with your own eyes the terrible murder of Mother Kinneret, you discovered that your father Eshel and your brother Alon and Or, your sister-in-law Yarden and your niece Gefen, survived. I wish you saw how your girlfriends fought to get you back alive.

I wish you hadn’t heard the prime minister say that the Philadelphia axis is more important than your life and the lives of the other abductees. I can only imagine how much rage that filled you.

I wish that in memory of you, in memory of the warrior of justice that you were, in memory of the life that you still had to live and that was taken from you at the hands of those who kidnapped you and at the hands of a government that decided that you could be given up,

I wish that in your memory thousands would come out to demonstrate tonight, just as you would have done.

I wish that in your memory all the abductees who can still be saved will return in the deal.

Sorry, Carmeli. Sorry I didn’t do enough.

I promise you: In your memory, we will return them all."

Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ political wing, has blamed Israel for the deaths of the hostages, accusing its government of evading a cease-fire agreement.

"The one who bears responsibility for the death of prisoners held by the resistance is the occupation, which insists on continuing the war of genocide and evading reaching a ceasefire agreement, and the American administration due to its bias, support and partnership in this aggression," Al-Rishq said in a statement.

Both Israel and Hamas have consistently accused each other of obstructing a cease-fire deal as mediators try and reach a breakthrough.

Nearly 11 months after he was taken hostage by Hamas, Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was found dead in Gaza.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin in an undated family photo. Courtesy of the Goldberg-Polin Family

President Joe Biden said Saturday night that Goldberg-Polin was among six hostages held by Hamas whose bodies recovered in a tunnel under Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces said Hamas killed the six shortly before Israeli forces reached them.

“Hersh was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7,” Biden said. “He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’ savage massacre. He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world.”

Goldberg-Polin was an older brother to two sisters and a fan of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team. He was born in the United States and moved to Israel with his family when he was 7, the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said.

Goldberg-Polin’s parents have been outspoken in their efforts to bring home their son and the other hostages, launching a social media campaign and making regular media appearances. They, along with the families of other hostages, have relentlessly urged Netanyahu and the Israeli government, as well as the international community, to focus on the plight of their loved ones.

Read the full story here.

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum urged the Israeli public to prepare for protests in a post on X Saturday night.

"Netanyahu abandoned the abductees! This is now a fact," it said. "Starting tomorrow the country will tremble."

The post goes on to say that further details will be sent Sunday morning.

The bodies of the six hostages were found in an underground tunnel during fighting in Rafah, Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said today.

They were located less than a mile from the tunnel where Frhan Alkadi, another hostage, was rescued earlier this week, Hagari said. At the time, fighting was going on above ground between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters, he said.

"According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them," Hagari said.

In Saturday night statements, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris mourned the death of American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, emphasizing that their prayers are with his loved ones.

"I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death. It is as tragic as it is reprehensible," Biden said in his statement.

Harris strongly condemned Hamas as well, calling it "an evil terrorist organization" and emphasizing that it now has "even more American blood on its hands."

"The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel—and American citizens in Israel—must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza," she said in the statement, which was made in her official capacity as vice president, not her presidential campaign.

Reactions from lawmakers also began rolling in, with members of Congress sharing that they were “heartbroken” and grieving with the families of the hostages.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American taken hostage in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks, is among six hostages whose bodies were recovered Saturday.

From top left, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi. From bottom left, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov, and Carmel Gat.The Hostages Families Forum via AP

“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh. The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time,” a family representative said.

President Joe Biden said the bodies of Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages held by Hamas were recovered in a tunnel under Rafah.

“I am devastated and outraged,” Biden said in the statement.

Read the full story here.

The IDF confirmed in a statement that they and Shin Bet, the country's domestic security agency, recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel near Rafah.

The IDF confirmed the identities of the hostages as Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sgt. Ori Danino. The hostages were "murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip," the IDF said.

"Following an identification procedure carried out by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the Israel Police, and the IDF Military Rabbinate, the IDF Manpower Directorate’s Hostage team, which is responsible for accompanying the families of the hostages, notified their families," the IDF statement said. "The IDF and ISA send their heartfelt condolences to the families."