National Security Council Head Tzachi Hanegbi confirms about 150-200 Israeli hostages are being held in the Gaza Strip, but said that the government, seven days after their capture, still does not know all of their identities and their status.
Hanegbi confirms that no active negotiation efforts are underway to repatriate Israelis kidnapped by Hamas last Saturday, saying that “there is no way right now to have a negotiation.”
“Israel will not hold negotiations with an enemy that we have vowed to wipe from the face of the earth,” he adds.
He says that the government’s liaison for hostages, Gal Hirsch, updates Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “a few times a day.”
The government, and its representative Hirsch, have come under fire from hostages’ families for not sharing information, or even initiating contact, with the families of captured Israelis.
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From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 14, 2023
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