US President-elect Donald Trump was reportedly caught off guard when President Isaac Herzog told him in a call earlier this month that Israeli intelligence assesses that half of the hostages still in Gaza are alive, given that he has repeatedly claimed that the vast majority are dead.
During a call congratulating Trump on his election victory, Herzog urged him to act to release the remaining 101 hostages, Axios reports. Trump responded that most of them were likely dead, to which Herzog replied by sharing the Israeli intelligence assessment.
“Trump was surprised and said he wasn’t aware of that,” a source familiar with the matter tells Axios.
The outgoing administration is still working on the issue in the meantime and US President Joe Biden met with the families of the seven remaining American hostages in Gaza earlier this month.
“I don’t care if Trump gets all the credit as long as they come back home,” Biden told the families during the meeting, according to Axios.
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