anger and shock are playing out in Israel this hour after the recovery of the bodies of six hostages from Gaza the Israeli military says the four men and two women were killed by their captors in a tunnel under or near the southern city of Rafa no cause of death has yet been released word of the new hostage deaths has brought thousands onto the streets in Jerusalem and elsewhere across Israel just 5 days after the success Rescue of an Israeli Arab from Gaza the Israeli government is under growing pressure to agree to a new ceasefire and
hostage release deal prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile has taken to social media with a warning for Hamas cbc's Sasha petrik is in Jerusalem Sasha can you walk us through what we know about the six hostages and their [Music] deaths yes Linda the six hostages their bodies were found uh in a tunnel underneath Rafa this is an area with a lot of military activity right now the Israeli military is carrying on carrying out many operations and and uh uh this was the area where they found the one hostage alive last week so they were working very
carefully uh in case there were other hostages to be found in case they were alive especially they did find these who were dead who were dead um the six range in age from 23 up to 40 most of them had been attending a music festival on a kibuts in the south of Israel on October 7th when they were kidnapped and taken over the Border it's believed that they were alive right up until a few hours before the military went into the tunnel where they were being held that's at least the information from uh the Israeli
Defense Forces um they're saying that uh that they were among those who had survived the past almost 11 months and uh had actually only been killed in the last few hours that their captors had fled before the military arrived we don't know any more information than that but we do know that there's a particular Spotlight on one of the hostages the youngest 23-year-old HH Goldberg Poland he's an American American Israeli and uh US president uh Joe Biden spotlighted his case many times over the past months he spoke to his parents and uh he today put
out a statement saying that uh that he's devastated and outraged and he called the actions of Hamas and killing them represent reprehensible so this is kind of where the spotlight has been it has in fact enraged much of Israel and that's what we're seeing here today already seeing the reaction there what more can you tell us about uh just what you're seeing and hearing in reaction to this news Well there have been protests for weeks and months but nothing like what we're seeing today and what we are expecting to see tonight especially in Tel Aviv
um the protests uh really are snowballing and the pressure on uh on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is actually growing there's a lot of anger there's a lot of anger in his position where he's threatening Hamas but not going for a deal which is the way the families and many in Israel feel is the only way to bring back the remaining 97 or so hostages who are being held in Gaza about a third of them are believed to be dead but the others are alive and the families believe that's the only way to bring them
back is with a deal um we're seeing the uh the leaders of the opposition parties calling for people to come onto the streets we're seeing the unions call for a general strike tomorrow and uh many other groups have said that they will join that the airport the main airport in Israel is to be closed tomorrow because of that uh the uh health workers are going on strike municipalities will be closed so really many people in this country are taking action in ways that we have not seen for many many months they've really been outraged by
what happened there this is the kind of sentiment that we're hearing from people who are going to these protests by the really by the tens of thousands we are very very sad and very very angry about our government that all they does is care about their position in the government it doesn't care about the just and doesn't do anything in order to release them the deal should have been signed long time ago and these people for sure like many others could have been saved all the families are are really heartbroken uh it's an unimaginable H
feelings they they were so close and some of them were supposed to be out in the first part of the deal H so we are really really heartbroken so that pressure is obviously intensifying not only from people on the streets and the unions but also within government itself we are hearing that uh high ranking officials in the military establishment the intelligence establishment are putting pressure on Netanyahu to go for a deal really the only people the only prominent voices uh not to want a deal are members of his Coalition cabinet who've been saying that they
will or could bring down the government if uh if he does agree to a deal so that's the political game that's being played here but I haven't seen as much uh vocal support for uh for the hostages and the deal uh really in the past couple of weeks the cbc's Sasha petrac in Jerusalem thanks for this Alon keset he is a cousin of yard and bius who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th along as his wife Sheri and their two children and he joins us now in Tel Aviv thank you so much for taking
the time to talk to us this morning thank you for having me I do want to start though with your reaction to the news of these hostage deaths what's going through your mind after hearing that for me it's another disappointment in this very long year of disappointments and tragedies um they should have come back alive a deal should have been struck a long time ago and every day that passes that our government is not doing the their best to secure a deal and the world is not doing their best to to secure a deal and
to pressure both Hamas and Israel to make an end H to all of this um Mo will die and maybe my family as well it has been almost a year since the October 7th attack and hostage taking what has this year been like for you it's been hell it's been a nightmare every day every day you are dreading that you're going to hear uh the worst news every day uh you are Imagining the cruel uh treatment that they're having there and what would be what would they be like when they return because after something like
this you don't return the same it's it's very scary and we always trying to get every little piece of news about their whereabouts and the well-being and it drives us mad it drives me crazy and it must stop and it makes me very pessimistic and disappointment disappointed from our government from the Free World and the Western World I I I I at the start I thought that in a in a modern world such as ours nothing like this can uh can go on and unfortunately it's not the truth prime minister Netanyahu said he was shocked
by the discovery of the six body saying that those who murder hostages do not want to deal what are what's your reaction to hearing that he said that I think he's making excuses because we don't have control over terrorist actions right we only have control about our actions our government our military so he should be held responsible for not uh securing a deal faster it's on his shift and only speaking in a language that tries to put the blame on others is is a cowardly is is a chick like a chicken and he he I
I put him to blame that he's not returning my family my family that are model citizens they they shouldn't be part of any political game or every religious game they are just innocent people that should come back so he should be held accountable for them not coming back and he should do everything he can to make them come back alive how like how optimistic are you that we could see a ceasefire deal soon and uh what is your message right now so I I know that the ceasefire can happen but the only thing I'm pessimist
pessimistic about is unfortunately uh the government that is not trying to not uh especially BB Netanyahu and some of the most extreme ones are pushing uh against the deal and I think it's it's just amazingly bad actions from them I'm pessimistic that they are the ones that can that will secure a deal because I don't think they want to but I'm optimistic that if they if enough pressure will be put on them and they have no other choice I know that logistically a deal can be secured so my message is for for everyone on Earth
pretty much is to pressure both us and be Netanyahu to stop with the to stop with this charade that cost us lives of real family members of my family and make put an end to this it should should not go on it must stop Alon keset thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts and how you're feeling today with us thank you
