From the Liveblog of
Monday, September 29, 2025
Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s father: No celebrations over killing of terrorist who captured my son
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Jonathan Polin, the father of murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, says that he did not celebrate when he was informed that the terrorist who captured his son had been killed.
Hersh was kidnapped from the Nova festival and murdered in captivity in August 2024.
Yesterday, the IDF announced that it had killed Muhammad Ahmad Yousef al-Jamal. Jamal had killed police officer Ch. Insp. Arnon Zmora, during a hostage rescue mission in the central Gaza Strip last summer. He had also reportedly commanded the Hamas forces that captured Hersh and several others from a bomb shelter they were in, also killing several others.
Polin said he was informed by the IDF that al-Jamal had been killed. “I reacted much like Michal Zmora did when she wrote ‘I’m still a widow, my children are still orphans.'”
“My thoughts are with Alon Ohel, the last hostage still alive in captivity from the bomb shelter, who is still surviving, still suffering,” Polin says.
“I don’t celebrate killings. I won’t celebrate until we bring back all the hostages.”
Polin also comments on the emerging Gaza peace plan being proposed by US President Donald Trump. “Maybe an agreement could bring me some kind of consolation.”
The Times of Israel Community.