Israel's president on Monday apologised on behalf of the government for failing to protect a 23-year-old US-Israeli hostage whose funeral drew thousands to a Jerusalem cemetery.
"I apologise on behalf of the State of Israel, that we failed to protect you in the terrible disaster of October 7, that we failed to bring you home safely," Isaac Herzog said during the service, referring to Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel in which Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage.
"I apologise that the country you immigrated to at the age of 7, wrapped in the Israeli flag, could not keep you safe."
Directly addressing Goldberg-Polin's parents, Herzog said: "I want to say how sorry I am. How sorry I am that we didn't protect Hersh on that dark day."
Israeli authorities on Sunday announced the death of Goldberg-Polin along with that of five other hostages seized on October 7.
They said their bodies were recovered after they were shot at close range on Thursday or Friday, after nearly 11 months in captivity.
Before the funeral, mourners waving Israeli flags held a procession from Goldberg-Polin's home to the cemetery, some wearing red t-shirts with Goldberg-Polin's picture and the word "Sorry".
Goldberg-Polin's mother Rachel, who spent nearly a year advocating for his return within and outside Israel, said it had been a period of "torment" and "such a specific type of misery" that she had never before experienced.
"Now I no longer have to worry about you. I know you are no longer in danger," she said at the service, addressing her dead son.
The deaths of six new hostages spurred an outpouring of grief and anger at the government for failing to reach a ceasefire deal that would have secured their release.
"The hope that perhaps a deal was near was so authentic it was crunchy. It tasted close. But it was not to be so," Rachel said.
"OK, sweet boy, go now on your journey. I hope it's as good as the trips you dreamt about."
The fate of Goldberg-Polin, who was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, had drawn considerable interest in the United States, where his parents spoke at the Democratic National Convention last month.
Jean-Marc Liling, a friend of Goldberg-Polin's family for two decades, told AFP that before Sunday he "believed Hersh would come back alive".
Unable to hold back his tears, Liling described Goldberg-Polin as someone "who believed in co-existence with Palestinians".
Hamas's October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians and including hostages killed in captivity, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
During the attack militants seized 251 people, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
The Israeli military campaign against Hamas has so far killed at least 40,786 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
Monday's funeral coincided with a strike called by Israel's largest labour union to pressure the government into reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would free the remaining hostages.
Tel Aviv and the northern coastal city of Haifa were among those that heeded the strike call and announced municipal services would be closed, though Jerusalem did not take part.
The strike followed a day of mass protests on Sunday that saw tens of thousands on the streets of Tel Aviv and elsewhere, part of a series of anti-government rallies during the war.
