Parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin celebrate hostage deal but mourn that it came too late for their son

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was abducted from the Nova music festival in the October 7 attacks and later murdered in captivity, welcome news of a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, but mourn the time it took to reach this point.
In a statement, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin hail the deal as “an opportunity to bring home 98 cherished hostages who have been held in captivity for far too long.”
The agreement is “only the beginning of the end, not the end itself,” they caution. “It is imperative that this process is completed and all 98 hostages are returned to their families.”
“Our beloved son Hersh and so many other innocent civilians should have been saved long ago by a deal like this one,” the bereaved parents add, noting that the deal outline is virtually the same as an outline presented back in May 2024 which failed to make it through rounds of tense negotiations.
“We will struggle with that failure for the rest of our lives,” they say.
“But today we celebrate the impending reunifications of the 98 remaining hostages with their loved ones with whom we have been tirelessly advocating and so many of whom have become like family to us during this 467 day struggle.”
The Golberg-Polins also acknowledge the impact that the ceasefire will have on Palestinian civilians inside the war-torn Gaza Strip, saying that they too must be “relieved of the suffering they have endured” over the course of Israel’s war with Hamas and “begin the recovery process.”