Anger and grief in Israel.
Thousands protested a hostage tragedy in Israel
Six Israeli hostages were found dead in a tunnel under the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said yesterday, an announcement that brought months of simmering public anger to a furious and grief-stricken boil.
A military spokesman said that the bodies of the captives, who ranged in age from 23 to 40 and included Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli American citizen, had been recovered beneath the southern city of Rafah. They had been “brutally murdered” shortly before, he added. Hamas said responsibility for the deaths lay with Israel for its failure to agree to a cease-fire deal. (Read about the hostages.)
Furious protesters flooded Israel’s streets last night, in one of the largest demonstrations in the nearly 11 months of war, to call on Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s prime minister, to agree to a truce that would allow the remaining hostages to be brought home. Hawkish elements in the Israeli government, by contrast, called for the war to be intensified in retaliation for the hostages’ deaths.
In Gaza: The Israeli military continued its bombardment of the territory, striking a former school that the military said Hamas was using as a “command and control complex.”
In the West Bank: Gunmen killed three Israeli police officers as they drove through the Israeli-occupied territory.
Share
Print
