The world awoke Sunday to the news that six hostages held by the terrorist organization Hamas had been murdered, among them an American citizen.

The IDF recovered the bodies of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarus, and Ori Danino, who were murdered by Hamas after nearly eleven months in captivity. The parents of Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen, recently spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

The bodies were recovered in an underground tunnel in Rafah. The Biden-Harris administration had vehemently opposed Israel entering Rafah and had even withheld arms from Israel in order to pressure them not to enter.

Harris told ABC News in March, “Any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. I have studied the maps – there’s nowhere for those folks to go. And we’re looking at about a million and a half people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there.” She threatened “consequences” against Israel if they pushed forward into the region.

Despite the intense criticism and pressure from the Biden-Harris administration over the Rafah operation, Israel proved them wrong, successfully entering Rafah and dismantling Hamas while minimizing civilian casualties. In hindsight, it is clear that it was essential for Israel to go into Rafah, having uncovered hundreds of tunnels — many of which were used to transport weapons via tunnels running into Egypt — and hostages, both dead and alive. 

During a visit to the Minnesota State Fair, Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz, appeared to ignore a question about the murder of the hostages.

In the video, a reporter can be heard asking Walz, “What’s your reaction to the six hostages being found dead in Gaza?”

Walz appears to listen to the question before raising his hand, telling the group of people, “All right, thanks, everybody,” and walking away.

News of the murder of the six Israelis by Hamas was met with strong criticism of the UN and other officials on social media.

Zach Ross, who publishes a substack called zicksworld, wrote:  

“Imagine for a moment how different things could have been if, on October 7, world leaders, the UN, the ICJ, human rights organizations, global media, universities, Hollywood celebrities, and the public had the backbone to do what was right. Imagine if they had unleashed unrelenting, suffocating pressure on H*mas and their allies, forcing them to release the hundreds of innocent people they savagely kidnapped and surrender.

“But no, instead, these so-called pillars of justice chose to turn their backs on the largest international hostage crisis in modern history. They chose to enable and protect the monsters – H*mas, Qatar, and the Islamic Republic of Iran – by parroting their ‘Free Palestine’ propaganda, downplaying their atrocities, and twisting reality to make Israel the villain in a fabricated ‘genocide,’ all under the deceitful guise of anti-Zionism…”

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon called on the UN Security Council to assemble.

“These innocent people were brutally executed just a few days ago by Hamas terrorists. Their vile and heinous murders have outraged Israel and its people and should equally shock the conscience of the world,” Danon wrote in a letter.

“As our nation mourns the loss of these six beautiful lives, I call upon the Security Council to urgently convene a briefing to condemn Hamas in the strongest possible terms and to address the dire situation of the 101 hostages still held in captivity in Gaza. Despite the passage of nearly 11 months since the massacre of over 1,200 Israelis on October 7, the Council has yet to condemn Hamas nor act decisively for the hostages.”

Fox News reports on the criticism leveled against UN Secretary-General António Guterres for failing to condemn Hamas following the murders. Here’s the start of the story:

JERUSALEM – The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, is facing a barrage of criticism for failing to explicitly condemn the Hamas terrorist movement for its murders of one American and five Israeli citizens on Saturday.

Israel Defense Forces were looking to rescue the six hostages held by Hamas, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, in the tunnel system below Gaza’s Rafah city, but instead found all six murdered at the hands of the terror group. The Times of Israel, quoting Israel’s ministry of health, reported that the hostages had been murdered between Thursday and Friday morning.

Guterres wrote on X, “I will never forget my meeting last October with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other hostage families. Today’s tragic news is a devastating reminder of the need for the unconditional release of all hostages and an end to the nightmare of war in Gaza.”

Guterres’ post on X sparked criticism from Israel’s former U.N. ambassador Gilad Erdan for playing down the severity of the murders by labeling the news as merely “tragic” and not condemning Hamas outright.