Biden says Netanyahu is not doing enough, says 'we are very close' to presenting final deal
When asked by reporters if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing enough on the hostage deal, President Joe Biden on Monday replied, "No."
A protester lifts a placard bearing portraits of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered by the army from the southern Gaza Strip, during a rally by families and supporters of the hostages in Tel Aviv, Sept. 2, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
Asked about presenting a final hostage deal this week, Biden said, "We are very close to that."
"Hope springs eternal," Biden said, when asked what makes this final deal different, but he declined to provide details.
Policemen scuffle with a protester as families and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since October hold a rally calling for their release in Tel Aviv, Sept. 2, 2024.
Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting with the U.S. hostage negotiation team Monday morning.
Mom of slain hostage asks her son to 'help us to rise again'
Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel, spoke directly to her slain son at his funeral Monday, saying she had been "absolutely certain that you were coming home to us alive. But it was not to be."
7:17
Mom of slain hostage asks her son to 'help us to rise again'
Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s mother, Rachel, spoke directly to her slain son at his funeral Monday, saying she had been "absolutely certain that you were coming home to us alive. But it was not to be."
"Now I no longer have to worry about you. I know you are no longer in danger," she said. "But now my worry shifts to us. ... How do we live the rest of our life without you?"
Rachel Goldberg-Polin said she had always dreamed of what kind of man her 23-year-old son would grow up to be, but now he will always stay her energetic, kind, patient, funny and pensive "sweet boy."
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attacks, and whose body has been found underground in the Rafah area of the Gaza.
Bring Them Home Now via Reuters
"If there was something we could’ve done to save you and I didn’t think of it, I beg your forgiveness," she said to her son, days after his body and the body of five other hostages were recovered in Gaza.
She also asked for her son’s help "as we transform our hope into grief in this new, unknown brand of pain."
"I beg of you, Hersh, please do what you can … help shower us with healing and resilience. Help us to rise again," she said.
She said she hopes one day that their family -- including Hersh’s dad and two sisters -- will "hear laughter and turn around -- and see it’s us and were OK."
Mourners gather for the burial of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose body was recovered with five other hostages in Gaza, during the funeral in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024.
Gil Cohen-Magen/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Through tears, the grieving mom begged her friends to help the family through this "sickening new chapter," pleading, "please don’t leave us now."
To her son, she said, "Finally, you're free. ... I love you and I will miss you every single day for the rest of my life."
10 hours and 50 minutes ago
'We failed you,' dad of slain hostage says
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was curious, self-assured and a deep, independent thinker, his dad, Jon Polin, said at his funeral on Monday.
The 23-year-old, who was found dead in Gaza this weekend, was "always seeking to understand the other, and always with dignity and respect," Polin said.
6:02
'We failed you,' says dad of slain American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was curious, self-assured and a deep, independent thinker, his dad, Jon Polin, said at his funeral on Monday.
"Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you,” Polin said with a "332" on his shirt, marking how many days his son was held hostage. "You would not have failed you. You would’ve pushed harder for justice … to bridge differences. … What you would be pushing for now is to ensure your death … [and the others’ deaths are] not in vain."
Jonathan Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin whose body was recovered with five other hostages in Gaza, walk with his sisters Orly and Leebie during his funeral in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024.
Gil Cohen-magen/via Reuters
"Maybe, just maybe, your death ... is the fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages," Polin said.
"You have become a global symbol of bringing improvement to our world," he said.
"The 23 years of life that we had with you were a blessing. We now will work to make your legacy a similar blessing," he said.
8:31 AM EDT
Funeral underway for slain American hostage
A funeral procession is underway in Jerusalem for slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 23-year-old was one of six murdered hostages recovered this weekend.
The Israeli Ministry of Health said the six hostages were killed “in a number of short-range shots” between Thursday and Friday morning.
People pay their respects on the street on the day of the funeral of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of six Israeli hostages whose body was recovered from Hamas captivity in Gaza, in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024.
Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
The funeral comes one day after thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the deaths of the six hostages.
