IDF discovers bodies of six Oct 7 hostages in Gaza : 'The country will tremble,' warn angry families

The Israel Defence Forces on Saturday (Aug 31) night announced that its troops had located six bodies in the Gaza Strip. These bodies, as per AFP, are of hostages taken by the militant group Hamas on Oct 7.

Theremains were recovered on Saturday "from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area" and formally identified in Israel,said the military.

Israel forces have named them as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.

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The discovery, which comes shortly after other bodies of captives were returned from Gaza, has added to growing outrage against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

'Abandonment is over'

Even as the Israeli military warned people against spreading rumours, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an activist group that advocates for the relatives of abductees in Gaza, revealed its plans to announce major protests— to be held on Sunday.

"Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. It is now a fact," said the group as the war approaches its 12th month.

According to the Times of Israel, the group vowed, "Starting tomorrow, the country will tremble."

"We call on the public to prepare. The country will grind to a halt. The abandonment is over," it added.

The opposition also slammed Netanyahu for focusing on insignificant issues even as "our sons and daughters are being abandoned and dying in captivity."

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid charged that "Not the Philadelphi Corridor nor the polio vaccines [in Gaza] interest him — just the coalition and preserving [the partnership with Bezalel] Smotrich and [Itamar] Ben Gvir."

"In the process, he is crushing the families and the nation of Israel," he added.

Israeli hostages in Gaza

The discovery of the hostage bodies comes days after the Israeli military rescued one live witness. Furthermore, in recent days, other bodies of captives were also returned from the Strip. According to reports, Gaza still holds 103 of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, along with the bodies of 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.In late November, the militant group Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce,and four hostages were released before that.

(With inputs from agencies)