THE SIX Israeli hostages recently executed by Hamas were shot multiple times from close range, an autopsy has found.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) recovered the hostages from a Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon in Rafah.
They were kidnapped during the October 7 massacre in Israel last year when Hamas stormed the border and killed 1,200 people, snatching around 250 more.
Some 101 hostages remain in Gaza and Israeli officials estimate a third of them are already dead.
The bodies of Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino were brought home to Israel by the IDF after the tragic discovery.
Israel’s Health Ministry announced that an autopsy carried out by the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute found all of them were shot several times from close range.
They had been murdered only some 48 to 72 hours before the examination, meaning they were killed between Thursday and Friday morning.
Security officials fear Hamas executed the six over fears another hostage rescued from a nearby tunnel last week would reveal information about their whereabouts, Channel 12 reports.
The discovery of the six hostages sparked a wave of fury across Israel as some half a million people took to the streets and clashed with riot police.
Protests began around 7pm local time on Sunday, pushing for the government to end the war in the obliterated Gaza Strip and secure a deal to bring the hostages home.
Hordes of angry and grieving citizens marched with puppets of Netanyahu dressed as the grim reaper as police were dispatched to the scene.
Protesters in capital Jerusalem filled the streets and focused marches outside Netanyahu’s residence.
Major city Tel Aviv was another focal point as people blocked its main motorway and set fires across the city.
In the smaller city of Rehovot, central Israel, people blocked traffic and shouted, “We want them back living, not in coffins!”
Riot police were pictured spraying marchers with a water cannon as they sat cross-legged in the middle of a road in Tel Aviv.
In Jerusalem cops unleashed skunk water, a harmful control weapon, at the crowds.
Around 29 were arrested nationwide, according to local media.
Photos showed some people being dragged away by riot cops as they forcefully removed hundreds of people from marches across the country.
Some 300,000 people took part in Tel Aviv, with a wider 500,000 across Israel.
The marches were organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum which said more protests would take place across the country today.
It said: “We call on the general public to vote with their feet and fight together with us to stop the abandonment and return our loved ones.”
The group blamed Netanyahu for the deaths of the hostages, claiming they were a “direct result of failing to sign a deal”.
“Over the past few months, eight hostages were rescued alive through military operations, compared to 105 hostages released in a deal last November,” said the group in a statement.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not rest until it catches those responsible for the killing of the six hostages.
In a statement, the PM said that Israel was committed to achieving a deal to release the hostages and that “Hamas refuses to conduct real negotiations.”
“Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal,” he added.
People marched holding images of Netanyahu with blood-soaked hands and coffins to symbolise the hostages who have been killed.
Some even dressed as hostages themselves with bound hands and gags over their mouths.
People waved signs that read “a deal is the only hope” after months of futile attempts to secure a ceasefire negotiation between Hamas and Israel.
Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to remove IDF troops from Gaza – which has remained a focal point of ongoing negotiations brokered by states like Egypt and Qatar.
He has vowed since October 7 that Israel will not stop fighting in Gaza until Hamas is completely destroyed.
Hamas has also repeatedly refused to accept ceasefire terms offered by Israel.
Figures from the Hamas-run health ministry in the Strip estimate that more than 40,000 people have been killed in almost a year of war.
The leader of Israel’s biggest trade union also announced a one-day workers strike today to support the protests.
Arnon Bar-David, head of Israel’s national trade union organisation, said Ben Gurion Airport would close at 8am local time today.
All flights were completely suspended between 8am and 10am but have since resumed.
Universities, manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector are also expected to join hundreds of thousands of workers in a walkout.
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
ONGOING negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have been plunged into turmoil following the discovery of six dead Israeli hostages in Gaza on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister said he had agreed to a deal brokered by the US over many months this year in May – and later an updated version in August.
But he said Hamas declined to accept and now they “continue to firmly refuse any offers” put on the table.
The PM has refused to waiver on removing troops from the Philadelhpi Corridor, which borders Gaza and Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor which splits North Gaza from the South.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu told Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that he is prioritising keeping IDF troops in the Philadelhpi Corridor over saving the lives of remaining hostages in Gaza.
US National security adviser Jake Sullivan has said “the next few days will be critical” in trying to release those still held by Hamas.
A source close to ongoing hostage negotiation talks told CNN on Sunday that it will take a day or two to fully realise the impact of this latest development.
They said the “situation is complicated” after a fortnight of in-person negotiations in Egypt and Qatar recently ended.
Talks via other channels are still ongoing.
US officials have voiced concern over Netanyahu’s role in securing a deal and over Hamas’ “seriousness” in coming to an agreement, CNN reports.
