'Now is really now': hostage relatives demand ceasefire deal as bodies recovered from Gaza

Captives' families lead calls to 'bring Israel to a halt' in nationwide rallies across Israel

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Public anger at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has soared after the bodies of six hostages were recovered from Gaza overnight, renewing calls for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal.

US-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the most well-known hostages, was among those confirmed dead only days after his parents were protesting at the Gaza border fence for his release.

Israel said the hostages, five of whom were taken captive at the Nova music festival, were shot in the head shortly before they were found.

The Hostages and Families' Forum on Sunday called on the public to "join a massive demonstration, demanding a complete halt of the country and the immediate implementation of a deal" with Hamas.

The main rallies took place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where families demonstrated as the government held its weekly cabinet meeting, while others rallied in central Israel and blocked main highways to Tel Aviv.

Daniel Lifshitz, the grandson of Oded Lifshitz, now 84, barely slept on Saturday as he awaited the identification of the hostages, fearing it could be his grandfather or one of the many hostages he knows from kibbutz Nir Oz.

"Seal the deal. That is what we ask for, that is our demand and that’s also the demand of all those who are not with us anymore," he told reporters in an online media briefing from the Hostages Forum headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Thirty-six hostages have been killed in captivity, according to updated figures provided to The National by the forum. A total of 101 people are held hostage.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and the public have called for a general strike, currently being discussed by the Histadrut national trade union, while some businesses have already shut down.

The mayor of the central city of Giv'atayim has already announced a strike, calling on other municipalities to join.

"The idea that military pressure will return the hostages alive has collapsed. There is no room for further explanations," Mayor Ran Kunik was quoted by local press as saying.

"More and more hostages are dying and being murdered in captivity. We have to try, whatever we can do, to bring them home. We’ll do everything we can to put pressure in Israel, and international pressure on Hamas and the US," said Mr Lifshitz.

His grandmother, Yocheved, was released as part of a temporary ceasefire in November and physically recovered after six months - but has not mentally recovered as the war drags on, and has personally met with Mr Netanyahu to appeal for a deal.

"Mentally she’s very, very sad this week. Last week we buried four old men who survived there for so long. Today we have two more funerals..she’s very devastated. Everyone that’s dying is breaking her heart completely. She just wants them to come back," he told The National.

Mr Netanyahu spoke with families of the killed hostages on Sunday, apologising for "the state's failure to bring them back alive," according to a readout from his office.

The PM "expressed deep sorrow and apologised to his family for the fact that the State of Israel failed to return the late Alexander and the other five abductees alive," he told the parents of Alexander Lobanov.

"I want to tell you how sorry I am and ask for forgiveness for not being able to bring Sasha back alive," he was quoted as telling Oksana and Gregory Lobanov.

One sticking point for a deal is Israel's insistence on remaining in Gaza's Salah Al Din border strip with Egypt, also known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the cabinet to reverse a Thursday vote to remain in the strip - also supported by Mr Lifshitz, who said any agreement must also require pressure on US, Hamas, and Qatar.

"Now is really now...they have to make sure the decision is accepted by the Egyptians to start the deal. Even if a deal is accepted, it will be a long time before we’ll see everyone back and we've seen their conditions. They're in very big danger. They aren’t getting oxygen."

'Mr Death'

The army announcement of the six deaths came hours after Israelis protested outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding a deal and accusing the government of "torpedoing" negotiations for its own political gain.

The Prime Minister and his cabinet "are knowingly condemning the hostages to death", relatives said in a statement outside the Kirya.

"Netanyahu is not Mr Security, he is Mr Death. He is undermining the deal in cold blood," Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is still held hostage, was quoted by Israeli media as saying.

Three of the six hostages were expected to be released in the first round of a ceasefire, according to reports in Israel.

Mr Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi and Carmel Gat "appeared in the lists given over at the beginning of July. It was possible to bring them back alive", a source told newspaper Haaretz on Sunday.

Moshe Emilio Lavi, whose brother-in-law Omri was taken hostage, said he holds both Hamas and Mr Netanyahu responsible.

"I blame Hamas and their accomplices for kidnapping and murdering our people, communities, families and loved ones. I blame PM Netanyahu and his accomplices for normalising the kidnapping and murdering of Israeli hostages, for 330 days, by Hamas," he wrote on X.

"We failed so many of them."

US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken released statements after the army's announcement on Sunday, hitting out at Hamas.

"Make no mistake, Hamas will pay for these crimes," Mr Biden said, adding the US "will keep working around the clock" for a hostage deal.

Mr Blinken, who toured the region last month in his ninth visit since the war began, described Mr Goldberg-Polin as "an American hero who will be remembered for his kindness and selflessness".

"The killing of these hostages only further confirms Hamas’s depravity. It should release all the hostages immediately," he said. "We will continue to work with our partners in the region to secure an agreement without delay that frees the remaining hostages."

Mr Netanyahu, already deeply unpopular with many Israelis, appears increasingly at odds with his own security apparatus over his commitment to the war in Gaza.

Security officials have repeatedly urged him to accept a deal, according to Israeli media reports, with the negotiating team keen to secure an agreement and the government adamant on prolonging the war.

"We warned of exactly this scenario," a senior member of the Israeli negotiating team told Axios on Sunday. "We told Netanyahu and the cabinet ministers that the hostages have no time and that their lives are in danger. But everything we said fell on deaf ears."