Heartbreaking!
For the past year, every time I leave Ashkelon I view a giant picture of Alex Lubnov. I prayed for him more than any other hostage, as his image was constantly before me. I often wondered what he was going through; what was his life like before Hamas took him hostage almost a year ago. Sadly, he will never be able to tell his story.
Alex and five other Israelis were murdered by their Hamas captors. The hostages were Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lubnov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27. Hersh had become well known around the world. His American parents spoke at the recent Democratic Convention. Hamas released a video of him in April, where he passionately asked that a deal would be made for the hostages to come home. A part of his arm was missing, as it had been blown off by a Hamas grenade on October 7.
Hersh had lived breifly in my city of Richmond, VA but his family was from Illinois, before they moved to Israel. The fact that an American was murdered with the other Israelis brought sharp remarks from President Biden according to the Times of Israel.
US President Joe Biden said he was “devastated and outraged” by the deaths of the hostages, in particular that of dual Israeli-US citizen Goldberg-Polin, whose parents, Jon and Rachel, he and other Americans had kept in their prayers.
“I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death,” Biden said.
“It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” he said. —Times of Israel
According to autopsy reports, they were executed about 48 hours before IDF soldiers found their bodies. IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, “According to an initial assessment… they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short while before we reached them. They were abducted alive on the morning of October 7 by the Hamas terror group.”
There is widespread anger at the government for not making more of an effort to end the war and bring the hostages home. The morale in the nation is low, as tens of thousands attended funerals today. Tomorrow, there will be nationwide strikes to protest the fact that it has been nearly a year and our people are still in Hamas tunnels. One protester wearing a Netanyahu mask held a sign that read, “I added clauses (demands)…hostages died…sorry.” Bibi’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant challenged the Prime Minister for his inflexibility,
“You are deciding to stay in the Philadelphi Corridor. Is this logical to you? There are living [hostages] there!” Gallant exclaimed.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer replied, “The prime minister can do as he likes.
Gallant responded, “The prime minister can indeed make all the decisions, and he can also decide to kill all the hostages.” —Times of Israel
The head of the army and the leader of the Mossad agency have also expressed concerns of the current hardline policy. They said that they have no issue with a temporary withdrawal to get back living hostages. Everyone knows that once our people are back, we can go back in as needed.
The IDF has come to the conclusion Hamas has ordered their guards to kill Israeli hostages if our forces are closing in. There is fear that if the guards flee and are killed by IDF soldiers, the hostages could never be found. Please pray for our hostages.
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