Grief and blame over Hamas murder of six hostages

Hamas’s murder of six hostages kidnapped on October 7 has prompted a widespread outpouring of grief and anger in Israel and the Diaspora.

Much of the anger is directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, at about the time the hostages were being slaughtered, was telling cabinet that he prioritised retaining the Philadelphi corridor over the lives of the hostages. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said he was horrifed by Netanyahu's statement.

The bodies of the six hostages abducted alive by Hamas on October 7 were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah on Saturday night, with multiple gunshot wounds. They were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27.

Forensic examination shows they were shot 48-72 hours before rescue - between Thursday and Friday morning. it is believed they may have been killed because Hamas believed the IDF was close to a rescue attempt. A Hamas spokesman said that after the successful rescue of four hostages in June, guards were instructed to kill hostages if Israeli troops approached.

Netanyahu has issued a rare apology to the families of the six executed hostages but insisted that he would not cave on the issue of retaining an IDF force in the Philadelphi Corridor.