Hostage families demand ‘explanation’ after Netanyahu mistakenly says 46 captives held in Gaza

Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip carry posters with portraits of their loved ones during a protest demanding their immediate release and calling for a ceasefire, in Jerusalem, October 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip carry posters with portraits of their loved ones during a protest demanding their immediate release and calling for a ceasefire, in Jerusalem, October 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demands an “explanation” from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he misquoted the number of hostages in an interview with conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro.

The forum notes that the hostages were taken two years ago from today, “All of them on your watch.”

“So we will update you — there are 48 hostages in Gaza,” the forum says.

“For us, and for the people of Israel who for two years have taken to the streets week after week, every one of them is a whole world. Every one of them must come home, the living for rehabilitation and the fallen for burial in their land,” the forum says.

Addressing Netanyahu, the forum says he has an opportunity to end the “nightmare” and return all the hostages, “48, not 40, and not 46.”

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