Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said Sunday in a statement on the X social media platform that “the heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces” after it was announced that Israeli forces had recovered the bodies of six hostages held in a tunnel by Hamas in Gaza.
The heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces with the news of the murder of Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Eden Yerushalmi, whose bodies were brought back from Gaza in a military operation.
On behalf of the State of…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) September 1, 2024
“The heart of an entire nation is shattered to pieces with the news of the murder of Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lonanov, Almog Sarusi, and Eden Yerushalmi, whose bodies were brought back from Gaza in a military operation,” Herzog wrote.
“On behalf of the State of Israel, I embrace their families with all my heart, and apologize for failing to bring them home safely.
“We will continue to fight relentlessly against the criminal, terrorist organization Hamas, which has once again proven there is no end to its willingness to commit murder and crimes against humanity.
“The blood of our brothers cries out to us. Our sisters and brothers are still there enduring Hell. The supreme covenant between the state and its citizens is to ensure their safety. We have the sacred and urgent mission to bring them home.”
US President Joe Biden likewise released a statement of “outrage” on the White House website, as did Vice President Kamala Harris. Israel’s Foreign Ministry curtly thanked Biden for his statement.
Thank you @POTUS: pic.twitter.com/A3G0PqYYBc
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 1, 2024
Israel was held back by the Biden Administration for months from invading the city of Rafah in southern Gaza despite intelligence indicating the likely presence of hostages being held there.
President Biden and his Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeatedly urged, cajoled and finally threatened Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the issue.
Despite that pressure and similar actions by European Union and United Nations leadership, Israel finally sent its forces into Rafah — the city straddling the Gaza-Egypt border — on May 6, 2024, knowing its forces faced a monumental task.
In the final week of August, the IDF announced its forces had uncovered at least 150 terror tunnels beneath the surface of Rafah, including many that were large enough to accommodate trucks bearing luxury goods, Iranian and other weapons and terror operatives into Gaza via Egypt. Some tunnels were so sophisticated they contained multi-level structures.
One hundred of those tunnels have been searched and dismantled. There are at least 50 more to go, possibly not including those found in the Philadelphi Corridor — a 14-kilometer strip of land that was intended to serve as a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, but which instead became a terrorist transit zone.
Egypt closed the Rafah crossing with Gaza from the moment Israeli forces seized control over the site, despite its protestations of dismantling tunnels and blocking terrorist traffic. Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel, has since maintained the closure and firm opposition to a permanent Israeli presence in the Philadelphi Corridor which is intended to prevent the reappearance of terrorists and reconstruction of the tunnels.
