Hostage families demand gov’t leverage Sinwar’s apparent demise to secure immediate deal

The Hostage Families Forum calls on the government to leverage Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s likely killing to secure an immediate hostage deal.

“Along with the appreciation for the significant achievement [of Sinwar’s apparent killing], the families of the hostages express grave concern for the fate of the 101 hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza and demand that [the government] leverage the military achievement to secure an immediate deal to bring about their return,” the statement from the forum says.

“The elimination of Sinwar is an important milestone on the way to the real victory, which will only be achieved with the return of the 101 abductees,” the statement continues.

“For over a year now, the Israeli government has not been able to leverage the unprecedented security achievements in the fighting in Gaza to bring about the release of the hostages,” the families say, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to instruct his hostage negotiation team to secure an immediate deal to free their loved ones.

“There is and will not be a total victory without the release of all 101 abductees,” they add.