New Yorkers will gather at Columbus Circle on Sunday night to mourn the six hostages held in captivity since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks in Israel who were found killed in Gaza this weekend.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has advocated for the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages held in captivity by the terrorist group Hamas since last year’s attacks, will host the candlelight vigil set to begin at 8 p.m. on Sept. 1 near the corner of West 59th Street and Broadway.
In a flier circulated on X (formerly Twitter), the vigil promises to mourn the six hostages found murdered in Gaza over the weekend while also vowing “to stop the next murder.”
Israeli forces located the six hostages inside a tunnel in Rafah, Reuters reported. Among the dead was one American, 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was born in California and lived there and in Virginia during his childhood before his family relocated to Israel.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Goldberg-Polin attended the Nova Music Festival in Re’im, Israel, which Hamas terrorists raided, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. Though he sought refuge with other hostages for a time in a bomb shelter, Hamas terrorists discovered them and lobbed grenades at the sanctuary.
Terrorists would eventually abduct Goldberg-Polin, who the forum said lost most of his left forearm in one of the grenade blasts. He would last be seen alive in a video Hamas released on April 24.
Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon-Polin, addressed the Democratic National Convention less than two weeks ago. They sought to remind all of the hostages’ enduring plight and appeal for the release of all remaining captives, and an end to the bloody war in Gaza.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin and the five other hostages found murdered in Rafah were killed amid ongoing negotiations for an end to the war and the remaining hostages’ release. In a statement released late Saturday night, President Biden said he was “devastated and outraged,” and maintained that “Hamas leaders will pay.”
“I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to [his parents], 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.”
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