Tuesday will mark two years since the Hamas terror attack on Israel that kicked off the ongoing war — the day Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage, along with hundreds of others, and more than a year since he was found dead by Israeli troops inside Gaza.
“I think when it’s a child, it’s a unique brand of torment. You don’t get better because when you’re broken in a certain way, you just have to learn how to live within that brokenness,” his mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, told CBS News.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023. About six months later, Hamas released a video of him alive, but after more than 300 days in captivity, the 23-year-old Israeli-American was killed by his captors as Israeli troops moved in on their location in late August 2024.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin has continued to campaign for the release of all the remaining hostages, and she believes a deal is closer than ever.
“There are 42 hostages who were taken alive and survived for hundreds of days and were killed in captivity. So we get very nervous,” she told CBS News. “And we’re also very aware, as you know, there are thousands and thousands and thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza who are also in this horrific situation. We have such a surplus of suffering in this neck of the woods. And we are desperate for the decision-makers and the people of power to make it end.”
Israel and Hamas this week started indirect talks on a plan to end the war in Gaza. The talks come after President Trump released a 20-point plan to end the war, which he presented during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House last week.
Hamas — which is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and many other nations — in a statement Friday said it agreed to some of the plan’s provisions, such as releasing all the remaining hostages, living and deceased, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and handing over control of the Gaza Strip to a transitional international body. According to Mr. Trump’s proposal, the exchange would see the 48 remaining Israeli hostages released. Israeli officials believe about 20 of them are still alive.
In addition to fighting for the release of the rest of the hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s parents have both spent months advocating for a diplomatic solution to end the war.
“If you only cry when one side’s babies die, it means your moral compass is broken, and therefore your humanity is broken,” Rachel Goldberg-Polin said.
“I think there is light ahead. I think that there is a path forward,” she said of trying to find the strength to heal after the death of her son. “I see it with myself after such a monumental loss. I will limp for the rest of my life. But I can limp toward the light.”
“I want all of us in this region to, whether it’s crawling or hopping or limping, or eventually, there will be people running toward the light. We have to go forward. We must,” she added.
contributed to this report.