NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Sadness and anger filled the streets in Newton Centre on Sunday, where a weekly gathering to honor those taken hostage by Hamas became a much more somber affair after news that six of them had been found dead.
Emily Brophy, who organized the event, said it was “devastating” to learn that six hostages were recovered from a tunnel under Gaza, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was among those kidnapped during a massacre at a music festival on Oct. 7.
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagar said the hostages were “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists a short while before we reached them.”
The 23-year-old became one of the most recognized faces of the hostage crisis and his parents were among the most vocal of families demanding a deal to bring them home.
Hersh’s death hit hard in Newton, where the organizers say some of his relatives live.
“You can’t put into words the pain these families have been feeling for 331 days,” Brophy said.
The rallies in Newton will continue until every last hostage is home.
Three of the hostages who were found dead were reportedly supposed to be released during the first phase of a hypothetical ceasefire agreement. That would have included Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
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