Hostage families demand meeting with Dermer, accuse him of leaving them ‘in complete darkness’

Relatives of the hostages held in Gaza tell Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is leading the ceasefire negotiations, that they feel as though their loved ones have been placed last on the government’s list of priorities.

In a letter penned to Dermer and published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the relatives of more than a dozen hostages accuse him of leaving them “in complete darkness” and failing to update them about any progress — or lack thereof — during ceasefire negotiations.

“Minister Dermer, when you were appointed as head of the negotiating team, we were promised that this would help reach a breakthrough on a new agreement,” they write. “In reality, more than a month has passed and there is no progress in sight.”

“The hostages are in immediate danger — the living are in danger of death and the dead are in danger of vanishing,” they warn.

“Minister Dermer, the responsibility and authority is in your hands. Do not leave the negotiating room until you achieve a comprehensive agreement,” they write, calling for the remaining 59 hostages, living and dead, to be returned in one fell swoop rather than a lengthy deal.

Appealing for Dermer to meet with them, the families say they feel as though they “have been forgotten in the dark.”

“When you’re not in the negotiating room — we are coming to you again with a demand — meet with us, all the families of the hostages, immediately. Pay attention to us,” they urge. “Our loved ones have no time. We have no time.”

Channel 12 reported last week that Dermer has yet to meet with a single hostage family or present his own initiative for a deal since taking over the negotiating team last month.

His office has denied the report and said he met with four families in the last two weeks, but declined to reveal their names.

The letter is signed by dozens of relatives of 21 hostages, both living and dead.

Among the signatories are the children of Manny Godard, who said yesterday that the military had tried and failed to recover their father’s body from Gaza.

It is also signed by freed hostage Iair Horn, who was forced to leave his brother Eitan behind in Gaza when he was released from Hamas captivity on February 15.