U.K. to suspend some arms sales to Israel
Britain will suspend some arms sales to Israel after a review found there was a "clear risk" that the weapons would be used in a way that could breach international law, the country's foreign minister said today.
The United Kingdom will be suspending 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel, David Lammy told Parliament.
"Facing a conflict such as this, it is this government's legal duty to review Britain's export licenses," he said. "This is not a blanket ban, this is not an arms embargo."
How many hostages are still being held in Gaza?
After the bodies of six hostages were retrieved this weekend, 101 people remain in captivity, seven of whom are Americans, according to Israeli tallies. However 35 of them are believed to be dead.
Since the Oct. 7 attack, 154 hostages have been either freed as part of an exhange for Palestinian prisoners or rescued.
Watch Jon Polin eulogize his son, Hersh
Hersh Goldberg-Polin's father remembered his son as someone who sought ways to make the world better.
"The 23 years of life that we had with you were a blessing," Jon Polin said at Hersh's funeral in Jerusalem. "We now will now work to make your legacy a similar blessing. You were a really great guy. I love you."
'The most stunning honor to be Hersh’s mama'
The mother of Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin spoke through her tears at her son's funeral this afternoon, saying he was finally free and they will have to learn to live without him.
“For 23 years, I was privileged to have the most stunning honor to be Hersch’s mama. I’ll take it and say thank you. I just wish that it would have been for longer," Rachel Goldberg-Polin said, her voice breaking.
Goldberg-Polin became the voice and face of the campaign to bring the hostages back, having addressed the United Nations and met with Pope Francis in her quest to bring her son back home.
"Amidst the inexplicable terror, anguish, desperation and fear, we became absolutely certain that you were coming home to us alive. But it was not to be," she said. "Now I no longer have to worry about you. I know you are no longer in danger."
Have the hostage deaths pushed Israel to breaking point?
Nearly 11 months into a war that has left the country isolated and deeply divided, Israel has erupted.
A nationwide strike threatened to bring the nation’s economy to a standstill on Monday after six hostages held in Gaza since Oct. 7 were found dead in the enclave, news that fueled mass protests featuring hundreds of thousands of people in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and beyond.
The dramatic display of dissent disrupted flights, hospitals and banks in an angry escalation of a monthslong campaign to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire deal with Hamas.
Despairing hostage families, large sections of the public and some of Netanyahu’s own ministers hoped the weekend’s events might force him to change course. But there was little immediate sign of that Monday, with the government winning its bid to force an early end to the general strike in Israel’s labor court.
Read the full story here.
'Hersh, we failed you': Goldberg-Polin’s father remembers his son in funeral speech
In an emotional speech, Jon Polin said the world has failed his son.
"Hersh, we failed you. We have all failed you," Polin said, wearing sunglasses and a piece of tape to commemorate the number of days since Hersh became a hostage.
Polin said his son would be pushing for a cease-fire deal right now to ensure that his death and the deaths of others were not in vain. "Your starting point would be returning all of the hostages," he said.
"You are a really great guy," he added, saying that the 23 years of his life were a blessing and vowing to turn his legacy into a blessing,too.
Netanyahu not doing enough to secure hostage deal, Biden says
President Joe Biden said today that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't doing enough to secure a cease-fire deal that would ensure the release of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.
In response to a reporter's question, Biden also said a final deal was very close.
Who was Hersh Goldberg-Polin?
Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin was found dead in Gaza along with five other hostages last week.
He was taken hostage at the Supernova music festival in the early morning hours of the Hamas-led attack on Israel of Oct. 7.
Survivors and footage from the Hamas GoPro camera that was shared with the family revealed that Hersh had half of his left arm blown off before he was loaded into a truck and taken to Gaza.
His parents have made a myriad of public appearances and interviews with international media in their efforts to keep the plight of their son and other hostages at the top of the news agenda.
In April, Hamas released a video Goldberg-Polin, in which he angrily asked the Israeli government to bring home the hostages. It would become the first time and last time his family saw him since the kidnapping.
Goldberg-Polin family members seen ahead of funeral
Jon Polin, left, father of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, is comforted on his way to his son’s funeral in Jerusalem today.Family members are driven to his funeral as they pass crowds of mourners waving Israeli flags.
Israel's president gives eulogy at Hersh Goldberg-Polin's funeral
Israeli President Isaac Herzog delivered a eulogy for Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin at his funeral in Jerusalem, attended by hundreds of people this afternoon.
Speaking in English after delivering his remarks in Hebrew, Herzog praised Rachel and Jon, Goldberg-Polin's parents, for teaching the world about human dignity after their relentless campaign to bring their son home.
"As the human being, as the father and as the president of the state of Israel, I want to say how sorry I am that we didn’t protect Hersh on that dark day, how sorry I am that we failed to bring him home. In his life and in his death, he touched all of humanity deeply," Herzog said.