we are back with our breaking news coverage of the six hostages found dead in Gaza by Israeli Defense Forces now according to the Israeli Defense Force the hostages are believed to have been killed shortly before they were found joining us now is Jeremy bash former Chief of Staff at the CIA and the Department of Defense Jeremy thank you for uh getting up early with us this morning on this breaking news I I I want to go to this point that we know we know from um the Israeli media uh autopsies that the hostages the bodies
that were recovered were shortly were killed um the people were killed shortly before the troops got to them these Israeli Defense Forces which as Michael and I were just discussing in the break suggests that they were killed intentionally because uh Hamas knew they were come they were coming to be rescued what what kind of conversations are happening now do you think given your experience within the federal government obviously CIA director Burns has been lead on the negotiations for the ceasefire um in consultation with secretary blinkin the president vice president so on and so forth but
does this complicate the matter here and and are they working to gather more information you think given your experience well Simone and Michael first of all we have to say we are heartbroken because this American hostage HS Goldberg Poland is an American citizen who is attending a music festival just like any American Youth today would be attending a soccer tournament or a back to school barbecue and he was taken by hot by terrorists his arm was blown off he managed to somehow survive that gruesome wound and he survived 11 months in captivity and his parents
John Poland and Rachel Goldberg Poland who I know personally who so many have worked with they've been Advocates on the world stage they've met with President Biden they met with vice president Harris they've met with world leaders the pope uh leaders from around the world to basically plead please let these hostages go and Hamas could end this right now by letting these nearly 100 hostages go to answer your question directly Simone I think it's full steam ahead to try to get a ceasefire deal I don't think any discovery of additional hostages who have been murdered
by Hamas really changes the equation the United States wants a cease fire uh we want um we we want the hostages released all of them there are still seven American host unaccounted for for Who We Believe are living but for Hamas to brutally murder an American hostage In Cold Blood just as we are negotiating their release just shows you the depravity of that organization's ideology and their tactics Jeremy there you know at this point um to Simone's question that there are a lot of uh efforts that are underway within uh The West Wing Situation Room
looking at this of course the state department um and other governmental organs as you know um as they're trying to gather that the president's put out a very forceful statement obviously to condemn these killings Hamas in in and has respond responded to this hostage crisis um Dr Basim Naim member of the political Bureau of Hamas and Gaza uh noted quote if President Biden is concerned with protecting human life regardless of his National nationality or religion religion he must exercise his powers and use his tools to stop the aggression immediately enforc Netanyahu and his fascist government
to sign a ceasefire which he seeks to disrupt every time either by committing horrific massacres or adding new conditions they're the ones who just killed six individuals because as Simone noted they were about to be rescued how do these actions complicate this effort towards a ceasefire which to be honest has been languishing back and forth between uh you know Israel and Hamas and then trying to push this ball forward what next steps can be taken given the complication of this hard hard no stance in the face of these killings as well as uh the effort
to try to rescue the remaining hostages well an event like this makes it even more urgent to get the rest of the hostages out and I think that will require everybody from President Biden to prime minister Netanyahu to the leaders of Egypt Jordan cutter uh and anybody who has influence over Hamas uh to redouble retrip their efforts to get these hostages out including the seven Americans who remain um but look I think it does in some ways bolster netanyahu's argument that these are terrorists they're going to kill our people in Cold Blood and so we
can't really negotiate with them and just as we're about to put our hands on them and rescue them whether through a negotiation or through a special operations raid they're going to put bullet in the back of the head of these terrorists and so in some ways it bolsters BB nany's argument that Israel must combat Hamas and destroy it militarily and put more military pressure on Hamas um on the other hand I think it does also uh make more urgent the effort to get out any in innocent captives who can be released you know I have
to just say personally I've been working with uh John Poland and Rachel Goldberg Poland the parents of hers the American who was murdered and and you know I really believed I really believed in my heart of hearts that this was going to have a happy ending I believed he was going to be released there were so many efforts underway so many people of Goodwill across the world including from the Arab from the Palestinian from the Muslim world who actually came to us and said that they wanted to work on the release of hostages and I
really believed he was going to be reunited with his parents with his two sisters with his loving family and with all of his friends and I'm just absolutely heartbroken devastated that that's not going to happen for him and his family but we cannot rest because there are still 100 hostages who are being held including seven Americans uh Jeremy this is a part of the statement from President Biden released late last night President Biden notes 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 I will note it seems that Hamas responded to the president on hostages with a statement of their own noting part if President Biden is concerned with protecting human life regardless of his nationality or religion he must exercise his powers and use his tools to stop the aggression immediately and force Netanyahu and his fascist government to sign a ceasefire which he seeks to disrupt every time either by committing horrific massacres or adding new conditions the statement from M obviously uh reprehensible given
that they executed uh reportedly it seems as though these these people who literally were living their lives and have been abduct abducted um and taken into captivity you've been working with the family um have you spoken to John and and Rachel this last late last night this morning and if so what can you tell us about how they're doing yeah well well Simone um thank you for saying that that statement is reprehensible because it is and I did speak to John and Rachel yesterday morning actually I have to say even as early as yesterday morning
Saturday morning um they were still working different um angles opportunities uh points of Leverage including with US government officials uh to see how they could get their loved one hers as well as the other hostages released and it was only late in the afternoon that um I reached out to them and and they did confirm to me Rachel confirmed to me that they were waiting to hear about the identification of certain remains that the IDF had identified and she just said one word to me she just said pray and of course that's what I did
all night long and then um about 11:15 p.m. late last night eastern time um she sent one line to me by text which is Hebrew it said which is blessed are you oh Lord who is the judger of truth and that's the statement that people say to each other when they've heard the news of somebody passing and so she was saying to me that her beloved hirsh had passed and you know I don't need to tell anybody here um Everybody uh can imagine themselves in the situation of of seeing their own child abducted uh surviving
devastating wounds and being held in tunnels at gunpoint for 11 months starved tortured beaten and working around the clock because of course it wouldn't defy the laws of physics to release this person it's just the fact that evil people were holding him evil people who were not being held accountable by the world Community by powers in the world whether they were from the United States Israel the Arab and Muslim World there they were not being held accountable and they could have released him any moment in the last 11 months and they did not and so
um this is a time a bit to to mourn it's a time to hug your loved one a time to know that you can't take for granted anybody's safety or security there are terrorists in the world who will abduct who will kill who will bomb who will destroy and I think uh it's a time for the United States and our allies and partners to close ranks and take the fight the terrorists and redouble our efforts to get these hostages out and create security and peace for all people Israelis Palestinians and people all around the world
well said Jeremy bash thank you very very much for your time this morning and our hearts absolutely go out to all of the families especially John and Rachel in this time we will be right back folks for
