These were the 6 Israeli hostages taken by Hamas found dead in Gaza on Sunday
Protests erupted in Israel over the weekend after the Israeli military recovered the bodies of six hostages who were killed days earlier in a tunnel in Rafah, near Gaza's southern border with Egypt.
Demonstrators demanded a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages. Frustration with the government's inability to get Hamas to hand over the hostages is building among the Israeli public as the ongoing conflict approaches its 11th month.
The six hostages appeared to have been shot dead at close range two to three days before their bodies were found, according to Israel's health ministry.
They were held hostage for nearly 11 months after they were kidnapped during Hamas' Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel's border communities.
Here are more details on the six hostages who were found.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin
Hersh Golberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli, was among 40 people taken hostage at the Nova music festival in southern Israel in the early morning hours of Oct. 7.
In an address to the Democratic National Convention last month, his mother, Rachel Goldberg, said he attended the music festival to celebrate his 23rd birthday with his best friend, who was killed in the attack.
As rockets began to fall, Goldberg-Polin, his friend, and 27 other people took refuge in a bomb shelter, she said. Attackers threw hand grenades into the shelter, and Goldberg-Polin's left forearm was blown off before he was taken to Gaza.
Goldberg-Polin appeared with his left hand amputated in a video released by Hamas in late April.
He was born in Oakland, California, and moved to Israel with his parents as a child, according to the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing many of the hostages' families. He was a "happy-go-lucky, laid back, good humored, respectful, and curious person" who loved soccer, music, and geography and travel, Goldberg said at the convention.
"Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you," Goldberg-Polin's father, Jon Polin, said at his funeral.
“May his memory be a revolution," Polin said.
Speaking at the funeral, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, “There is no door in the world on which your beloved family did not knock for you, for your rescue and well-being.”
Carmel Gat
Carmel Gat, a 40-year-old occupational therapist from Tel Aviv, was taken from her mother's home in Kibbutz Be'eri, one of the hardest-hit communities in the Oct. 7 attack. Her mother was killed in the attack, according to the Hostages Families Forum.
Gat was "full of compassion and love," the Forum said in its statement.
Returned hostages called Gat their "guardian angel." She taught other hostages "meditation and yoga exercises," according to the statement.
Gat's cousin Gil Dickmann was among a group of hostages' family members who rushed towards the border with Gaza before police stopped them during a demonstration last week.
"We were trying to get into Gaza to get the hostages back," Dickmann said at the demonstration. "Our military stopped us, they are trying to defend and protect us. But the hostages aren't protected there."
Dickmann said at a news conference on Monday that Netanyahu's "delays" were the main obstacles to reaching a deal for the hostages' release.
"All six of them were held together and all six of them were killed in captivity," he said. "We could have saved all of them."
Alexander Lobanov
Alexander Lobanov, 32, was also taken captive during the Nova music festival, where he worked as a bar manager, according to the Hostages Families Forum.
After a meeting with Hamas in January, Russia's Foreign Ministry identified Lobanov as one of three Russian citizens held hostage. He was a dual Russian-Israeli citizen, according to Israeli news reports.
The father of two was from Ashkelon, a coastal city in southern Israel, according to the Forum. His youngest child was born five months ago, while he was in captivity.
"Testimonies indicate that Alex helped evacuate people and ran with five others in the Be'eri forest," the Forum said in a statement. "While they escaped, he was captured."
In a phone call to Lobanov's parents, Oxana and Grigory Lobanov, Netanyahu requested forgiveness "for not succeeding" in bringing their son back alive, according to a readout from his office.
Almog Sarusi
Almog Sarusi, 27, was also kidnapped at the Nova music festival. He attended with his girlfriend, who was killed in the attack, according to the Hostages Families Forum.
Sarusi hailed from the city of Ra'anana. He was "a vibrant, positive person who loved travelling around Israel in his white jeep with his guitar," the Forum said.
Eden Yerushalmi
Eden Yerushalmi, 24, was working as a bartender at the music festival when she was taken hostage, according to the Forum.
As sirens sounded, Yerushalmi sent her family a video of nearby rocket fire and called the police for help.
She was on the phone with her two sisters, May and Shani, for four hours as the attack unfolded, the Forum said in its statement. "Her last words were, 'Shani, they've caught me.'"
A two-minute propaganda video released by Hamas on Monday appears to show her in captivity before her death. In the video, posted to Telegram, Yerushalmi says she misses her family and sisters.
Ori Danino
Ori Danino, a native of Jerusalem, was also taken hostage at the music festival as he drove back to help others escape during the surprise attack, according to the Forum. The 25-year-old and prospective electrical engineering student "was known for his ambition, love for people, and was beloved by all," the Forum said in its statement.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hostages identified: Who were the 6 Israelis found dead in Gaza?