The bodies of six dead Israeli hostages were located in the Gaza Strip Saturday nearly 11 months after they were taken from southern Israel during Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack.
The six were among about 251 hostages taken that day, 97 of whom remain captive in Gaza, including 33 the army says are dead.
The following are short profiles of the hostages. The ages given are from the day they were kidnapped by militants.
– Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23 –
The Israeli-American national was one of those abducted from the Nova music festival. His parents Jonathan and Rachel moved from the United States to Israel when he was seven.
The older brother of two sisters, Goldberg-Polin was at the festival with three friends, two of whom died while one survived.
Goldberg-Polin sent his mother Rachel a text message saying “I love you” followed by another saying “I’m sorry”.
A Hamas video from the day showed him being loaded onto a pick-up truck with part of his left arm missing. It had been blown off in the attack.
Goldberg-Polin had dreamt of becoming a chef and travelling the world.
His parents led a media campaign in Israel and the United States calling for his release and met US President Joe Biden several times.
– Alexander Lobanov, 32 –
Russian-Israeli Alexander Lobanov was the head bartender at the Nova festival. According to his relatives, he hid in an olive grove before being captured.
His wife Michal gave birth to their second child, whom he never met, in March. Lobanov is also survived by a two-year-old child and his disabled parents whom he cared for.
Alex and Michal met at a restaurant where they were working as a head chef and waitress.
– Carmel Gat, 39 –
Recently returned from a trip to India, Carmel Gat, an occupational therapist, was dragged from her parental home in Beeri kibbutz and kidnapped along with other members of her family.
Some of the hostages who were freed during the first truce reported seeing her. She turned 40 while held in Gaza.
Released hostages said she had taught yoga to some of them in captivity.
Gat’s mother was found dead after the Hamas attacks, while her sister-in-law Yarden Roman-Gat was taken hostage and released in November.
– Eden Yerushalmi, 24 –
Eden Yerushalmi was working as a bartender at the Nova festival when she was kidnapped.
On the morning of October 7 she called her family screaming that she was scared and had seen armed men attack the festival, according to her sister Shani.
At first, she hid in a car, where she found the dead bodies of two of her friends. However, after an hour, one of their phones started ringing, forcing her to leave the car and hide in a bush.
“Shani, they found me,” were her last words before she was taken to Gaza.
– Ori Danino, 25 –
The eldest son of Elchanan and Einav Danino, Ori was one of five siblings. He was a soldier, engaged and due to start his studies in electrical engineering.
He was captured when he returned to the Nova festival to rescue his friends Omer Shemtov and Maya and Itay Regev, who were also taken hostage. He disappeared shortly after militants began firing on his car.
Maya Regev and her brother Itay were released during a one-week truce in November, while Omer Shemtov is still being held in Gaza.
Danino was buried in a military cemetery in Jerusalem where he lived.
– Almog Sarusi, 26 –
Almog Sarusi was a music producer originally from Raanana in central Israel. His fiancee Shahar Gindi was killed at the festival. He was kidnapped while trying to help her after she had been shot.
Sarusi loved playing guitar and travelling around Israel in his jeep.
AFP
