Tim Walz accused of running away from Gaza hostage question
Tim Walz is under fire after a video appeared to show him walking away as he was asked about the hostages found dead in Gaza.
The Minnesota governor was at a state fair in Saint Paul in his home state greeting supporters and answering questions when the incident occurred.
"What's your reaction to the six hostages being found dead in Gaza?" a woman can be heard asking Walz off camera.
Without answering, Walz then tells a group of people, "All right, thanks everybody," and walks away.
It is unclear from the video whether Walz heard the question. However, the clip still set social media alight, with one person branding the Democratic vice presidential nominee a "coward."
"Tim Walz was asked his reaction to the 6 executed hostages being found in Gaza, including 1 American citizen. You know what he said? Nothing - he ran away," right-wing political commentator Rogan O'Handley wrote on X. "This man is a Grade A coward."
Newsweek has contacted the Harris-Walz campaign for comment via email.
Later on Sunday, Walz issued a statement condemning Hamas as a "brutal terrorist organization."
"The anguish of losing a child is something no family should have to endure. Gwen and I send our deepest condolences to the Goldberg-Polin family, after Hamas' murder of their son Hersh," reads a post on Walz's X account. "Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization – and we condemn their continued atrocities against both Americans and Israelis in the strongest possible terms."
The bodies of six hostages were recovered from a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, according to the Israeli military, who said they were killed shortly before they were set to be rescued.
The hostages have been named as Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, whose parents appeared at the Democratic National Convention last week, as well as Ori Danino, 25, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 27, Alexander Lobanov, 33, and Carmel Gat, 40.
They were taken during Hamas' October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and about 250 others taken hostage. Since then, Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, The Associated Press has reported, citing the local health ministry. The war has displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, and has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
Amid the conflict, the U.S. has been involved in ceasefire negotiations. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of stalling these.
Hamas has offered to release the hostages in return for an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants, while Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.
In an interview with CNN last week, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said a "deal" should be made to stop the suffering of Palestinians.
"Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed, and we have got to get a deal done," she said. "We have to get a deal done. This war must end, and we must get a deal that is about getting the hostages out."
However, she also said Israel has a right to defend itself.
"Let me be very clear, I'm unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel's defense and its ability to defend itself, and that's not going to change," she added.
Following news of the deaths, President Joe Biden said he was "devastated and outraged."
Biden, who has met with Goldberg-Polin's parents, said they have "been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions."
He added: "I have worked tirelessly to bring their beloved Hersh safely to them and am heartbroken by the news of his death. It is as tragic as it is reprehensible. Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages."
In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu said he was "deeply shocked" by the killing of the hostages.
"The heart of the entire nation is torn," he said. "My wife and I, together with the entire nation, mourn with the families. We grieve with them."
He said Israel would hold Hamas accountable for killing the hostages, adding that "whoever murders hostages does not want a deal."
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Netanyahu is "responsible for the killing of Israeli prisoners" and that Israelis "should choose between Netanyahu and the deal."
