Hostages forum demands meeting with Netanyahu to discuss efforts to free Gaza captives

30 April 2024, 9:05 pm

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Following the release of a Hamas propagnda video last week showing hostages Keith Siegel and Omri Miran, the two families hold a press conference at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on April 29, 2024, calling on all governments involved to work to finalize a deal to release all the hostages. (Paulina Patimer/via Hostages Families Forum)

Following a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the hawkish Gvura and Tikva forums, which represent families of some slain soldiers and some hostages respectively, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum demands he hold a similar meeting with the families it represents as soon as possible.

“The Forum demands an urgent meeting between representatives of the hostages’ families and the Prime Minister, to be held as early as tomorrow,” a statement from the organization reads. “Their demand is to advance the proposed deal expected to secure the return of all hostages – the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for burial,” the statement adds.

“We did not celebrate Passover. Our loved ones remained captives of Hamas. We ourselves are held captive by Hamas and the Israeli government,” the family members of hostages state. “In less than two weeks, we are supposed to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day – the independence of the state, its revival and the citizens’ faith in it – all of which are dependent on your decision.”