By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The family of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin confirmed early Sunday that he had been killed in the Gaza Strip. He was 23.
The family spoke hours after the Israeli army said it had located six bodies in Gaza, including three hostages.
“With broken hearts, the Goldberg-Polin family is devastated to announce the death of their beloved son and brother, Hersh,” the family said. “The family thanks you all for your love and support and asks for privacy at this time.”
The otter hostages of whom the human remains have been discovered were named Bodies of Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and Ori Danino. All were retrieved from Gaza, Israel’s military said in comments published by Israeli media. The hostages “were murdered by Hamas” before the Israeli army could rescue them, Israeli sources said.
Goldberg-Polin was one of the best-known hostages. His parents had met with world leaders and pressed relentlessly for their help. Last month, they addressed the Democratic convention, where the crowd chanted, “Bring them home.”
Goldberg-Polin was born in California but moved to Israel when he was seven.
Years later, the young man was abducted by Hamas fighters from the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7.
Friends recalled him as “funny with a dry, dark sense of humor,” “obsessed with soccer,” and ” loving electronic music.”
KEY ACTIVIST
His mother was a key activist trying to release all 251 hostages and was named to Time magazine‘s 2024 annual TIME100 list of the world’s most influential people.
She and his father traveled towards the Gaza border, where they and other families of hostages used giant speakers to call out to their family members.
In April, Hamas released a video of Goldberg-Polin when he was still alive on their social media platform Telegram channel.
The video footage apparently showed that an arm was amputated due to an explosion in October.
In comments published by Israeli media, Goldberg-Polin’s childhood friend in Chicago, Jeremiah Smith, described him as “the little brother I never had.”
The two met when Goldberg-Polin was just two years old, and Smith, at the age of six, was a student of tender Hersh’s grandmother, Marcy Goldberg, at a school on Chicago’s near north side.
Smith has a truck with digital screens that show his friend’s face. “I wouldn’t want nobody else to drive the truck,” Smith said, clutching the Star of David around his neck, The Jerusalem Post newspaper recalled. “I just want that guy to come home.”
While many have since been released dead or alive, more than 100 hostages are still in Gaza, though U.S. officials believe at least half of them have passed away.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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