Following the news of Hersh Goldberg-Polin being one of the bodies discovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, President Joe Biden stated that “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.” Biden issued a statement confirming that one of the hostages killed by Hamas terrorists was Goldberg-Polin. The president described Goldberg-Polin’s death as “tragic” and “reprehensible.
Biden said, “Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas. We have now confirmed that one of the hostages killed by these vicious Hamas terrorists was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin.” He added that he was “devasted and outraged.
Goldberg-Polin was among the innocents brutally attacked while attending a music festival for peace in Israel on October 7. He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’ savage massacre, just days after turning 23 years old. He had plans to travel the world before his tragic death. President Biden has gotten to know Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Jon and Rachel. They have been courageous, wise, and steadfast throughout the ordeal of their son being held captive in unconscionable conditions.
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.
Israel’s Army Radio announced Sunday morning local time that Goldberg-Polin had been identified as one of the dead, along with Israeli hostage Orio Danino and Eden Yerushalmi. Hersh was one of the more than 250 people taken hostage after Hamas terrorists launched a land, sea, and air invasion of Israel, leaving 1,200 people murdered.
Goldberg-Polin and others who had been attending the Supernova festival sought shelter in a roadside rocket shelter when Hamas terrorists were throwing grenades into the shelter, resulting in the loss of Goldberg-Polin’s left arm from the elbow down. Rachel Goldberg-Polin and her husband Jon Polin recently spoke at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago about how it was “not a political issue” to call for the hostages to be released.
Goldberg-Polin was last seen in a video in April released by Hamas as an attempt to put pressure on the Israeli government to agree to an unfavorable hostage deal.