RICHMOND, Va. — Flags are flying at half-staff on Tuesday in remembrance of an Israeli-American who used to live in Virginia and was among hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack that ignited the Gaza war.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Sunday that flags should be flown at half-staff on all state and local buildings and grounds in the Commonwealth from Tuesday at sunrise until sunset.
It is to be done "in memory and respect" of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose body was found this weekend by Israeli forces in a tunnel beneath the Gaza city of Rafah.
Israel said early Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of hostages taken from a music festival where Palestinian militants killed scores of people, including Goldberg-Polin, whose parents had led a high-profile campaign for the captives' release.
The military said the hostages were killed shortly before Israeli forces were to rescue them. The news sparked calls for mass protests by families of the hostages who said they could have been returned alive in a cease-fire deal.
Who is Hersh Goldberg-Polin?
The native of Berkeley, California, lost part of his left arm to a grenade blast in the Oct. 7 attack. In April, a Hamas-issued video showed him with his left hand missing, sparking new protests in Israel urging the government to do more to secure his and others’ freedom.
His parents, U.S.-born immigrants to Israel, became perhaps the most high-profile relatives of hostages on the international stage. They met with U.S. President Joe Biden, Pope Francis and others and addressed the United Nations, urging the release of all hostages.
On Aug. 21, his parents addressed a hushed hall at the Democratic National Convention — after sustained applause and chants of “bring him home.”
“This is a political convention. But needing our only son — and all of the cherished hostages — home is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue,” said his father, Jon Polin. His mother, Rachel, who bowed her head during the ovation and touched her chest, said: “Hersh, if you can hear us, we love you, stay strong, survive.”
They sought to keep their son and the other captives from being reduced to numbers, describing Hersh as a music and soccer lover and traveler with plans to attend university since his military service had ended. At events, Rachel often addressed her son directly, urging him to live another day.
Both wore stickers with the number 320, representing the number of days their son had been held. It had long become part of a morning ritual — tear a new piece of tape, write down another day.
