Hi,
It was the hostages murder that made the difference between this announcement of the IDF spokesperson and earlier announcements.
Unlike other bodies of hostages that have been pulled out of Gaza strip tunnels, those six hostages were shot dead by Hamas terrorists 24-72 hours before IDF managed to get them.
The terrorists shot them to avoid them being rescued, like the hostages in Operation Arnon and the celebrations in Israel around them.
Altougth, this is Hamas’ strongest, and maybe only cars against Israel, Hamas still preferred to murder them.
This murder pushes harder the question of whether the military pressure is what will bring us back the hostages or another hostage deal with Hamas.
The war in Gaza strip continues (as well as this in the Lebanon border and on the west bank). This murder shows that apart from some of the hostages that managed to be rescued by heroic operations, most were saved by the hostages deal with Hamas.
I do not any hostage personally, but I do feel I learned to know Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who is one of those six murdered hostages. Hersh was Hapoel Jerusalem fan, and since he was kiddnaped the fans of the team hangs a big flag with his picture on the stadium, wearing shirts with his picture and calls for his release.
Bibi keeps saying that for 5 months now, we are a step from the victory. I believe, as many others, there will not be no real victory. And the closest we can get to a victory is bring back home all the hostages. Right now, it does not seem we are a step from a victory. There are still 101 hostages, 35 are already declared dead.
Take Care
Gad
The 6 hostages that were kidnapped on October 7th and murdered just 24 to 72 hours before IDF soldiers got to the tunnel they were hold at: Ori Danino 25 years old, Eden Yerushalmi 24, Alexander Lobanov 32, Almog Sarusi 27, Hersh Goldberg-Polin 23 and Carmel Gat 40 (Source: t.me/abualiexpress)