Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, among six hostages found dead in Gaza

  Rachel Goldberg previously described her firstborn and only son, Goldberg-Polin, as a "kind person" and a "voracious reader."

The bodies of six hostages captured by Hamas on October 7, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, have been recovered in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and President Joe Biden announced late Saturday, August 31.

Israeli forces found the hostages' remains in a tunnel under Rafah earlier that day, according to CNN, CBS News, and The Washington Post. An IDF spokesperson indicated that they were killed by Hamas shortly before their discovery.

In addition to 23-year-old Goldberg-Polin, a California native who was attending the Nova music festival in Israel where over 260 people were killed by Hamas, the bodies of five other hostages were also recovered: Carmel Gat, 40, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25.