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2 months ago
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THE SIX Israeli hostages recently executed by Hamas were shot multiple times from close range, an autopsy has found.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) recovered the hostages from a Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon in Rafah.
The six Israeli hostages found dead in Gaza on Saturday
Reuters
Reuters
Reuters
ReutersThey were kidnapped during the October 7 massacre in Israel last year when Hamas stormed the border and killed 1,200 people, snatching around 250 more.
Some 101 hostages remain in Gaza and Israeli officials estimate a third of them are already dead.
The bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino were brought home to Israel by the IDF after the tragic discovery.
Israel’s Health Ministry announced that an autopsy carried out by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found all of them were shot several times from close range.
They had been murdered only some 48 to 72 hours before the examination, meaning they were killed between Thursday and Friday morning.
Security officials fear Hamas executed the six over fears another hostage rescued from a nearby tunnel last week would reveal information about their whereabouts, Channel 12 reports.
The discovery of the six hostages sparked a wave of fury across Israel as some half a million people took to the streets and clashed with riot police.
Protests began around 7pm local time on Sunday, pushing for the government to end the war in the obliterated Gaza Strip and secure a deal to bring the hostages home.
Hordes of angry and grieving citizens marched with puppets of Netanyahu dressed as the grim reaper as police were dispatched to the scene.
Protesters in capital Jerusalem filled the streets and focused marches outside Netanyahu’s residence.
Major city Tel Aviv was another focal point as people blocked its main motorway and set fires across the city.
In the smaller city of Rehovot, central Israel, people blocked traffic and shouted, “We want them back living, not in coffins!”
Riot police were pictured spraying marchers with a water cannon as they sat cross-legged in the middle of a road in Tel Aviv.
In Jerusalem cops unleashed skunk water, a harmful control weapon, at the crowds.
Around 29 were arrested nationwide, according to local media.
Photos showed some people being dragged away by riot cops as they forcefully removed hundreds of people from marches across the country.
Some 300,000 people took part in Tel Aviv, with a wider 500,000 across Israel.
Reuters
Cover Images
A fire burns on the streets of Tel Aviv during demonstrations on Sunday
ReutersThe marches were organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum which said more protests would take place across the country today.
It said: “We call on the general public to vote with their feet and fight together with us to stop the abandonment and return our loved ones.”
The group blamed Netanyahu for the deaths of the hostages, claiming they were a “direct result of failing to sign a deal”.
“Over the past few months, eight hostages were rescued alive through military operations, compared to 105 hostages released in a deal last November,” said the group in a statement.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not rest until it catches those responsible for the killing of the six hostages.
In a statement, the PM said that Israel was committed to achieving a deal to release the hostages and that “Hamas refuses to conduct real negotiations.”
“Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal,” he added.
People marched holding images of Netanyahu with blood-soaked hands and coffins to symbolise the hostages who have been killed.
Some even dressed as hostages themselves with bound hands and gags over their mouths.
People waved signs that read “a deal is the only hope” after months of futile attempts to secure a ceasefire negotiation between Hamas and Israel.
Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to remove IDF troops from Gaza – which has remained a focal point of ongoing negotiations brokered by states like Egypt and Qatar.
He has vowed since October 7 that Israel will not stop fighting in Gaza until Hamas is completely destroyed.
Hamas has also repeatedly refused to accept ceasefire terms offered by Israel.
Figures from the Hamas-run health ministry in the Strip estimate that more than 40,000 people have been killed in almost a year of war.
The leader of Israel’s biggest trade union also announced a one-day workers strike today to support the protests.
Arnon Bar-David, head of Israel’s national trade union organisation, said Ben Gurion Airport would close at 8am local time today.
All flights were completely suspended between 8am and 10am but have since resumed.
Universities, manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector are also expected to join hundreds of thousands of workers in a walkout.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted after the grim hostage discovery this weekend: “Shock and indignation at the discovery of the six hostages killed by Hamas in Gaza.
“My thoughts are with their loved ones.
“There must be an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages, including our compatriots Ohad Yahalomi and Ofer Kalderon.
“The war must stop.”
EPA
Reuters
Hordes of people take to the streets with Israeli flags
AFP
Cover Images
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