Axios, citing Israeli officials, said it is still unclear when and how the captives were killed but some of them were still alive in recent months. The recovery operation took place on Saturday afternoon local time but it took many hours to officially identify the bodies and notify the families, Axios reported. On Saturday, the Israeli military issued a short and general statement that they found several bodies in Gaza. The statement created an unprecedented uproar among the captives’ families, who called for mass protest against Netanyahu on Sunday. “Netanyahu abandoned the hostages. This is now a fact. Starting tomorrow the country will tremble. We call on the public to prepare. We will bring the country to a halt. The abandonment is over," the Hostage Families Forum Headquarters said in a statement on Saturday.The bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Master Sergeant Ori Danino were found and recovered yesterday.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 1, 2024
They were all taken hostage on October 7 and were murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization while in captivity… pic.twitter.com/9VWYHNX0Ks