Tuesday marked the first yahrzeit of the “Beautiful Six” hostages—Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lubanov, Almog Seroussi, Ori Danino and Eden Alexander—whose bodies were recovered by Israeli forces from a Rafah tunnel in southern Gaza at the end of August 2024.
All six had been shot multiple times by their Hamas captors at close range just days before their discovery, Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed, following autopsies on their remains.
Posting on the “Bring Hersh Home” page on Instagram, the Goldberg-Polin family appealed for people to “do something during these 24 hours to make our complicated world a bit better. It can be big or small, quiet or loud, private or public. Do it in memory of the Beautiful Six, including our Hersh. May his memory be a revolution... for goodness.”
According to examinations conducted by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, the six hostages were murdered 48 to 72 hours before the autopsies. The discovery of their bodies shocked Israelis to the core and marked one of the darkest days of an already traumatic period.
Earlier in August 2024, the remains of six other hostages were recovered in an operation involving the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). The bodies of Avraham Munder, Yoram Metzger, Nadav Popplewell, Yagev Buchshtav, Chaim Peri and Alex Dancyg were located more than 10 months after the Hamas massacre.
Fifty hostages remain captive in the Gaza Strip, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
