Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Sept. 1 that Hamas leaders must be held accountable for the killing of six hostages in Gaza, who he said had been murdered in a vicious manner by the terrorist group.
Austin held a phone discussion with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sept. 1 following the recovery of the six hostages’ bodies in an underground tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah. One of the hostages was 23-year-old U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
The Pentagon chief extended his deepest condolences to the families of the slain hostages and also to the families of three Israeli police officers who were killed in a terrorist attack in the West Bank also on Sept. 1, according to a Defense Department readout.
During their talk, Austin told Gallant that he was outraged by what the official call summary described as the “vicious, illegal, and immoral execution” of the hostages by the Hamas terrorist group amid ongoing cease-fire negotiations.
He expressed concerns over the rising tensions in Gaza and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to reaching a deal that will result in the release of the remaining hostages kidnapped by Hamas during its unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Gallant also reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to reaching such an agreement while emphasizing the “important role” of the United States in the negotiations. He noted that Israel remains “determined to eliminate Hamas leadership and assets” in the enclave, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the six hostages were “brutally murdered” by their captors shortly before their bodies were found in an underground tunnel in the Rafah area of the Gaza Strip on Aug. 31.
The six hostages killed were Ori Danino, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, and Goldberg-Polin. Their bodies have since been sent back to Israel for burial, according to the IDF.
President Joe Biden called their deaths “tragic” and “reprehensible,” saying his administration will continue to work on a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Biden said Goldberg-Polin had lost his arm while helping others during a Hamas attack at an Israeli music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, before being kidnapped by the terrorist group.
“I am devastated and outraged,” Biden said in a statement on Aug. 31. “Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.”
The Israeli military has stated that it believes there are still 101 hostages remaining in Gaza. The IDF has vowed that its military operation in the territory will “not stop until every hostage is brought home.”
Protests have erupted in the streets of Israel in the aftermath of the six hostages’ deaths. Demonstrators are blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for failing to secure a hostage deal.
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera in a Sept. 2 interview that Hamas killed the hostages because Netanyahu would not agree to its demands to hand over control of the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors.
“Netanyahu’s response to our acceptance of the document presented by Biden was evasive, followed by the imposition of several new conditions. Netanyahu insisted on staying in Philadelphi and Netzarim [corridors] and refused to release our elderly prisoners serving life sentences,” al-Hayya said.
“We are not interested in negotiating Netanyahu’s new conditions. The movement decides not to compromise on the July 2 proposal.”
Melanie Sun contributed to this report.
Kamala Harris Warned Israel of ‘Consequences’ If It Invaded Rafah, Where Hamas Just Murdered an American Hostage.
Kamala Harris DOES NOT care about, protect our country or our citizens. The only thing that the treasonous, self-serving, self-righteous, unqualified Kamala Harris is interested in is getting in the White House and she doesn’t care how it gets accomplished. Legally or illegally, honestly or dishonestly, the will of the people is irrelevant.
These Hamas terrorists must be led to understand that whether or not they release the Hostages, those responsible for Oct 7th will still be hunted down and killed. Gaza Hamas led people have two options, release the hostages and turn over the criminals responsible,, or see tens of thousands of Gaza innocent people lose their homes, their businesses, their family members and potentially having the entire stretch of Gaza Turned into a sheet of Nuclear melted glass,,,,,,which from an economic cost cutting point of view is becoming a more palatable option than the costly current Hamas Terrorist death by a thousand cuts, or wayward missiles. Remind them that in 1945 America had the costly option of invading the Japanese mainland with the loss of the lives of hundreds of thousands of American servicemen, and the lives of millions of Japanese bombed out troops and citizens,,,, or nuke a couple of Japanese cities with no American casualties, and only a couple of hundred thousand Japanese. Those formerly innocent Hamas citizens who shield and protect the real killers, who voted them into power over them, lost their own innocence the minute their ballot was cast,,,,a lesson we Americans are again about to be faced with in November. Do we empower the proactive results-oriented candidate, or the female version of another creeper of the basement dwelling sleeper, who cuts and runs to the beach or the cooler the minute the heat comes on????
I always get irked, when our govt, tells “ISRAEL” to back down, when its the ENEMIES KILLING ISRAELIS.. YET they never seem to ever tell the BAD GUYS to stand down.
Had Biden not crushed our domestic production of oil, and we remained energy independent we could thumb our noses at all of them and leave them alone to do that which they do best,,,,which is to kill each other, instead of killing our troops and killing our economy.
And i’d let them!
I don’t understand the thing with the “protesters” in Israel who are all over Netanyahu about the hostage murders. Are these people really that stupid, or are the “protesters” really just Hamas supporters instead of actual Israeli citizens. Why would they press the Prime Minister to give in to the terrorists who will most certainly take the first opportunity to do the same thing again?
You don’t let people who terrorize and kill your civilians the ability to live and kill another day. Unconditional surrender must be demanded. If we could do it to the Nazi’s and the Imperial Japanese shoguns, The Jews can do it to Hamas. Better 100 die as hostages, than another 1400 are butchered come next October 7th. with just more hostages taken to negotiate with. When you cut out a cancer, sometimes some good flesh has to come out with it, to make sure you get all the cancer. Our problem is the surgeons we elected are more concerned with cutting out innocent babies than slicing and dicing Hamas Muslim terrorists whose Dearborn Michigan relatives might vote them out. Full-fledged tourniquets are needed to stop the Middle East bleeding and all Joe and Kamala and timid Tim can offer are tampons, instead of avenging American troops. Excuse me Joe but were AMERICAN hostages not taken as well?
They are not thinking that’s the problem. THEY ARE REACTING On pure emotion. Period.
“Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Sept. 1 that Hamas leaders must be held accountable for the killing of six hostages in Gaza, who he said had been murdered in a vicious manner by the terrorist group.”
Those and all the other murdered Israelis. But this is a good start and it was nice of the pentagon chief to say what every normal American knows.
Now let’s see some action. Like stop chopping at Israels knees.