The Israeli army announced on Sunday, September 1st, that it had found the bodies of six hostages in the Gaza Strip. Among them, a 23-year-old Israeli-American and an occupational therapist who gave yoga classes to the other hostages during her captivity.
The bodies of six hostages, who were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack, were found by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, the IDF and US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday, September 1.
The two women and four men were aged between 23 and 40. Among them were two dual nationals: an Israeli-American and an Israeli-Russian, according to the Israeli army.
Five of them were abducted while they were at the Nova techno music festival, where festival-goers were kidnapped on October 7.
A 23-year-old Israeli-American
The Hostage and Disappeared Families Forum, also known as Bring Them Home Now, has shared many details about their journey. Among the hostages was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, an Israeli who also held American citizenship, hence the announcement by Joe Biden. Born in the United States, he moved to Israel with his family when he was 7 years old.
According to the US president, Hersh Goldberg-Polin “was among the innocent people brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers in the savage massacre perpetrated by Hamas.”
During his captivity, a video of him shot in April by his captors was posted on social media. He was shown in the footage with one arm amputated.
Two hostages worked for the Nova festival
Another dual national in the group, Alexander Lobanov was Israeli-Russian. Aged 32, married, he was the father of a 2-year-old child and a 5-month-old baby, born while he was in captivity. Kidnapped during the Nova music festival, he worked there as a bar manager.
Eden Yerushalmi, 24, was a young woman from Tel Aviv who was also working at the Nova festival, but as a barmaid, when she was abducted. She was also training to become a Pilates instructor.
During the October 7 attack, she sent a video of the rocket fire to her relatives, assuring them that she was leaving the scene. She then spent four hours on the phone with her sisters, describing everything she was experiencing, before she was finally kidnapped.
He tried to “help other people escape”
Originally from Jerusalem, Ori Danino, 25, was the eldest of five children. He intended to study electrical engineering.
On October 7, he was abducted during the Nova festival “while he was driving back to help other people escape and survive,” according to the Forum of Families of Hostages and the Disappeared.
Almog Sarusi, 27, “loved to travel around Israel in his white jeep with his guitar,” according to the association. During the music festival, his partner Shahar was seriously injured. Almog stayed by her side to help her, before being kidnapped by Hamas. His partner did not survive her injuries.
She taught yoga classes in captivity
The oldest of the six hostages found, Carmel Gat was 40. An occupational therapist, she loved to “travel” and was a fan of the music group Radiohead, according to “Bring Them Home Now.”
During the October 7 attack, she was at her parents’ Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas members abducted her. According to testimonies from other freed hostages, who described her as their “guardian angel,” she gave meditation and yoga exercises to her fellow prisoners to help them cope with their detention.
During the October 7 attack by Hamas, a total of 251 people were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, 97 are still being held, including 33 declared dead by the army. This vast attack resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.
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