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Sunday, December 8, 2024
Netanyahu tells hostage families fall of Assad regime could advance hostage deal
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets separately with two hostage family groups in Jerusalem, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most families, and the Tikva Forum, which represents a hawkish minority of hostage families who have been significantly more supportive of Netanyahu’s handling of the war than the main forum has been.
According to Netanyahu’s office, he tells them that the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria “could help advance a deal to bring back the hostages.”