Protesters mark 2 years since recovery of 6 slain Gaza hostages, demand Oct. 7 probe
Activists outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem home display banner reading, ‘We will not forget they could have returned alive,’ hold photos of hostages who were killed in captivity
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Protesters on Monday marked two years since the recovery of the bodies of the “beautiful 6″ hostages from a Hamas tunnel in the Gaza Strip, with a demonstration outside the Jerusalem residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the Hamas-led massacre.
Netanyahu’s government has long-refused to establish one.
The activists held large images of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubanov and Ori Danino, and a banner declaring “We will not forget they could have returned alive.”
The six were abducted alive on October 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival, and were murdered in captivity in August 2024. Their bodies were discovered in a tunnel under Rafah, in southern Gaza, on August 31.
The hostages’ deaths sparked a wave of angry protests against the government, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets nationwide demanding a hostage-ceasefire deal. Netanyahu had been accused of holding up a hostage deal to conserve his hardline coalition.
Other posters and images at Monday’s protest featured the faces of other hostages who were abducted alive and were killed in captivity, including Shiri Bibas and her infant son, Kfir.
לפני כשנתיים, התבשרנו על הירצחם של 6 החטופים: הירש, כרמל, אורי, אלמוג, עדן, אלכס.
מחאת הנשים הגיעה בסמוך למעונו של רוה״מ בשביל להזכיר לכל מי שהנהיג את המדינה שהיו חטופים בחיים ושהם גם יכלו לשוב בחיים הביתה. עסקאות נדחו ובמקום תועדפה מלחמת שולל.
כל אחד יכול היה להיחטף ב-7.10, וכל… pic.twitter.com/s3d5g8TwjC— משנים כיוון ↩️ (@change_dir_il) August 31, 2026
A state commission of inquiry is Israel’s highest investigative authority, with unique power to investigate national disasters, subpoena witnesses and issue personal recommendations that can end political careers. It is established by government decision, but acts independently of it, and comprises experts selected by the judiciary.
Critics accuse Netanyahu of seeking a politically appointed probe to shield himself and his government from responsibility over the massacre. Netanyahu has never accepted explicit responsibility for the attack, instead blaming security forces, previous governments, the judiciary and political opponents.
The opposition has demanded that an independent state commission of inquiry be established, and parties in the anti-Netanyahu bloc have vowed to establish one if they are victorious at the election.
Netanyahu has adamantly opposed forming one because its members would be selected by the president of the Supreme Court, which he claims is biased against him.
However, Netanyahu himself called for a state commission of inquiry into the previous government’s conduct as recently as 2022. Opinion polls have shown that a majority of Israelis support establishing such an inquiry.
The Times of Israel Community.