- Military maintains six individuals who met their demise as hostages in Gaza.
Shadowed by the uncovering of six deceased captives in the southern region of Gaza Strip, a substantial vaccine initiative against the polio virus commenced in the Palestinian territories. The unveiling of these corpses amplified the critique directed towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's significant labor union confederation, Histadrut, advocated for a one-day strike on Monday, which will also impact the international Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
According to a military spokesperson, the captives were terminated by Hamas merely moments before the military reached them. Another military spokesperson didn't offer details regarding their demise but confirmed they were slain by Hamas terrorists. However, Hamas attributed the deaths of the captives to Israeli airstrikes.
Furthermore, violence persisted in the occupied West Bank: Three police officers, two males, and a woman, were slain in a suspected Palestinian assault near Hebron.
Mass immunization due to polio outbreak concerns
Following the reporting of the first instance of polio paralysis in 25 years in the contentious coastal strip, around 640,000 juveniles are booked to receive immunization against the highly infectious polio virus in upcoming days, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Typically, two doses of the vaccine are administered four weeks apart.
The mass vaccination campaign will be executed by local health authorities, UNICEF, and the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, as per a WHO spokeswoman. The campaign commenced on Sunday in central Gaza.
Halima Baraka, a 39-year-old mother of four, visited one of the vaccination centers in Deir al-Balah in the morning. "I attended to shield my children from this sickness," she said, indicating to the cramped living conditions of internally displaced individuals in tent camps. "The situation is dismal, we have no sanitation supplies, no healthy food for our children, and trash is omnipresent. Diseases can spread swiftly among the children."
Sally Saidam from the Nuseirat refugee quarter also arrived to have four of her six children inoculated. "We're struggling for our existence, not simply due to constant Israeli airstrikes, but also due to diseases, hunger, and poverty." Her message to the global community: "Enough with death and destruction, you must help us halt this conflict."
Temporary ceasefires to facilitate vaccination campaign
During the vaccination campaign, which will last approximately a week and span other parts of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army intends to observe time-bound and location-bound ceasefires. Netanyahu's office indicated that these planned ceasefires are not a traditional ceasefire.
Just prior to the initiation of the vaccination effort, the Israeli army announced the discovery of six deceased captives. Netanyahu accused Hamas of chronically obstructing endeavors toward a ceasefire. "Anybody who slays hostages does not yearn for a resolution," he said in a video message. Hamas rejected several U.S. proposals, while Israel consented to them. Critics in Israel, however, accused Netanyahu of undermining attempts toward a ceasefire for his personal and political interests.
From the Nova music festival to the Gaza Strip
Regarding the deceased captives, it is understood that they consist of four males - Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Alexander Lobanov (32), Almog Sarusi (27), and Ori Danino (25) - and two females - Carmel Gat (40) and Eden Jeruschalmi (24). As per the forum of the relatives of the abducted, five of them were kidnapped on October 7th from the Nova music festival in the Negev desert near the Gaza Strip.
The six corpses were discovered in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip and were transferred to Israel, as per the military. "Based on our preliminary evaluation, they were mercilessly killed by Hamas terrorists just before we arrived," said Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari. A Hamas spokesperson, however, claimed the captives were slain in an Israeli airstrike.
Another military spokesperson did not provide details about the exact time and circumstances of their demise. They were slain by Hamas terrorists, but investigations are ongoing. A 52-year-old captive was rescued alive from a tunnel approximately a kilometer distant on Tuesday. "We had no specific intelligence data pertaining to their location," he said regarding the captives, discussing "general information suggesting captives are being held in the region."
"I love you, stay strong, prevail!"
The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who is also a U.S. citizen, had relentlessly advocated for his release. Just last month, they moved the participants of a Democratic Party convention to tears with the account of their son, who lost an arm in the abduction. On Thursday, they joined other relatives of hostages in a demonstration at the Gaza border. "Hersh, this is Mama," Rachel Goldberg-Polin bellowed into a megaphone towards the Gaza Strip. "I love you, stay strong, prevail!"
German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert posted on X: "We all awaken with the horrible news that six more deceased captives have been discovered, murdered by Hamas." Seibert named the captive Carmel Gat specifically. Since the Hamas attack on Israel, the German embassy has stood by the family in their attempts for her release. The Federal Foreign Office did not confirm upon request whether Carmel Gat held German citizenship.
A relative of a still-missing hostage informed Israeli TV channel Channel 13: "If we await capturing the last Hamas fighter, no more living captives will remain to rescue." The discovery of the corpses serves as a sad proof of this. "Netanyahu can broker a deal for their release. Of course, it's Hamas that abducted and murdered the captives, no one disputes that, but the prime minister can save them - but he elects not to, he abandons them."
Crowds gathered in Tel Aviv and various other locations on a Saturday night, demanding a peaceful resolution to free the captives held by Islamic Hamas.
Over 250 individuals were reportedly abducted by terror organizations, including Hamas, from Israel and transported to a sealed coastal region during the October 7 incident. The current status of the 101 hostages remaining in Gaza remains unclear.
The death toll in the coastal strip since the onset of the conflict surpassed 40,700, as per Gaza authorities. This figure fails to distinguish between civilian casualties and combatants and is challenging to substantiate.
The President of the Council expressed concern over the impact of the uncovered deaths on the political situation, urging for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The discovery of the deceased captives further strained relations between Israel and Hamas, with the President of the Council strongly condemning the actions of Hamas.
