Pope Francis expressed his closeness Sunday to relatives of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza earlier this month, saying he had met the mother of one of them.
The six were among 251 hostages taken from southern Israel during Palestinian terror group Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack, which triggered the ongoing war.
Of them, 97 hostages are still held in the Gaza Strip, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
“I think of the Middle East. So many innocent victims. I think of the mothers who have lost sons to war. How many young lives cut short,” Francis said at the end of the Angelus prayer.
“I think of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, found dead in early September with five other hostages in Gaza.”
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“In November last year, I met his mother, Rachel, whose humanity struck me. I accompany her at this time. I pray for the victims and continue to be close to all the families of the hostages,” he added.
"This is my son. No arm. It's been 47 days"
Rachel Goldberg, mother of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, shows the Pope the last footage she has of her son. His arm was blown off by Hamas before he was taken hostage 47 days ago.@Pontifex met today with relatives of hostages held… pic.twitter.com/F0D8Ga9MHs
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 22, 2023
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American national, was 23 when he was abducted from a music festival.
He sent his mother Rachel a text message saying “I love you” followed by another saying “I’m sorry.”
A Hamas video from the day showed him being loaded onto a pickup truck with part of his left arm missing. It had been blown off in the attack.
Goldberg-Polin’s body, along with those of fellow hostages Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino, were recovered by Israeli troops at the beginning of the month, a day or two after they had been shot dead by their captors. News of their death triggered an outpouring of grief and rage among Israelis already traumatized by the most devastating attack in the country’s history.
“Let the conflict in Palestine and Israel cease. Let the violence cease. Let the hatred cease. Let the hostages be released. Let negotiations continue. And may solutions for peace be found,” Francis said.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin eulogizes her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, at his funeral in Jerusalem on September 2, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
On October 7 Hamas led thousands of terrorists in a massive cross-border attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Terrorists also abducted 251 people who were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Israel responded with a military offensive to destroy Hamas in Gaza and free the hostages.
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