Hostage’s mother: I expect Netanyahu to ‘stop targeting Gallant’ and bring the hostages home

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan has been held hostage in Gaza since October 7, says that the prime minister’s statement earlier today accusing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of harming Israel’s chances of a hostage deal indicates that Netanyahu will torpedo upcoming talks planned for later this week.

“I expect the prime minister to stop targeting his defense minister and the negotiating team,” she tells Channel 12. “I expect the prime minister to show leadership and to bring my son home after 10 months, and to bring back all of the hostages, alive and dead, every last one.”

Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israel will send a negotiating team to the August 15 talks “to finalize the details of the implementation of the agreement framework.” Hamas says it is not sending a delegation to the talks.

“I demand that the prime minister… find a diplomatic solution [to bring the hostages home], to talk about postwar plans for Gaza. All of the country’s security chiefs say that the barriers to a deal have been removed. That means we can proceed to a deal,” she says.

It is believed that 111 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.