Israel recovers the bodies of 6 hostages in Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin

Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin's tragic death sparks calls for action in a relentless campaign for his release.

Israel on Sunday said it had recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including a young Israeli-American man who became one of the most well-known captives held by Hamas as his parents met with world leaders and pressed for his release, including at the Democratic convention last month.

The news sparked calls for mass protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who many of the families of hostages and much of the wider public blame for failing to bring them back alive in a cease-fire deal with Hamas. Negotiations over such a deal have dragged on for months.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was seized by militants at a music festival in southern Israel on October 7. The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack.

In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him, his left hand missing and clearly speaking under duress, sparking new protests in Israel urging the government to do more to secure his and others’ freedom.

The army said he was among six hostages who were killed when Israeli forces were about to rescue them. The bodies were recovered from a tunnel under the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

It identified the others as Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; and Alexander Lobanov, 33; who were also taken from the music festival. The sixth, Carmel Gat, 40, was abducted from the nearby farming community of Be’eri.

“According to preliminary information, they were cruelly murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, told reporters.