PM apologizes to family of murdered hostage for failing to secure his release

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with the parents of Alexander Lobanov, one of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered from the Gaza Strip, and personally apologizes for the failure to save him.

The prime minister plans to speak to all the families of the other hostages who were found murdered, the Prime Minister’s Office says.

“I want to tell you how sorry I am, and I ask for your forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha home alive,” Netanyahu tells Oksana and Gregory Lobanov, using their son’s shortened name, according to a readout by the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the conversation, Netanyahu mentioned that his military secretary Roman Gofman had returned from a visit to Moscow this morning where he had been working to secure a deal to release the hostages, among them Lobanov, the statement reads.