Group of hostage families: Military pressure kills hostages, Netanyahu ‘criminal against his own people’

In their weekly press conference, a group of hostage families pushes for an agreement to end the war and bring back all the captives, denouncing the ongoing fighting and partial deals proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage, says, “Soldiers are being sent to war without end, without purpose, and without concern for the day after.”

“It is possible to sign a deal tomorrow morning. An entire nation is being deceived. We are told that military pressure will return the kidnapped — it only kills them.”

She asserts that the “entire nation” wants an end to the war and return of the hostages, and accuses Netanyahu of “doing himself a favor, by agreeing, perhaps, to another selection deal.”

Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is held hostage, slams Netanyahu for characterizing the return of all hostages in exchange for an end to the war as “surrender.”

“A prime minister who sees the return of hostages captured under his watch as surrender is a criminal against his own people,” Cohen says. “His goal is to waste time and stay in his seat. He turned Nimrod and the hostages into pawns on his chessboard long ago.”