Sara Netanyahu says fewer than 24 hostages are still alive in Gaza
Hostages’ families demand to know whether there’s new info after PM’s wife says figure cited by Netanyahu is too high, at a meeting in which he nearly forgot to mention captives
Sara Netanyahu on Monday said the number of hostages thought to be still alive in Gaza was lower than the official figure of 24, during a meeting in which her husband, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to have forgotten the captives altogether while speaking about Israel’s military achievements.
The comment by Sara Netanyahu, which sparked outrage among hostage families on Tuesday, was based on partial, classified information that was recently relayed to cabinet ministers, the Kan public broadcaster reported. The premier’s wife has previously sued Channel 12 for reporting that she leaked state secrets related to attacks in Iran and the assassination in September of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
Speaking to honorees set to light torches at the 77th Independence Day state ceremony Wednesday night, Benjamin Netanyahu talked at length about Israel’s successes against Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and the Houthis, and about the heroism of Israel’s soldiers, but failed to mention the hostages still held by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza, according to a video released by the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday.
As Netanyahu’s wife Sara began speaking after his remarks, Transportation Minister Miri Regev, seated to the premier’s left, wrote something on his notepad, after which he immediately said: “And of course we have another important task, not only to win, but also to bring home. To date, we have returned 196 of our hostages, 147 alive.”
“There are up to 24 alive, up to 24 alive,” he continued. Sara appeared to do a quick calculation in her head, then whispered, “Fewer.”
“I say ‘up to,'” Netanyahu said after a brief pause, “and the rest of course unfortunately are not alive, and we will return them.”
Responding to the footage of Sara Netanyahu’s comment, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum accused her and her husband of causing “indescribable horror” to the families, “who are already in a state of torturous uncertainty.”
“What did you mean when you said ‘fewer’? Do you know something we don’t?” the Forum asked. “We demand the prime minister clarify his and his wife’s comments. If there is intelligence or new information about our loved ones’ condition, we demand to know it in full.”
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker and a harsh critic of the premier, demanded to know if her son — who is among the captives still thought to be alive — “was murdered because your husband refuses to end the war.”
“As far as the families are concerned, it’s their child whose murder in captivity you announced, and on the eve of Memorial Day, no less,” she wrote on X.
Israel will commence its annual commemorations for fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks with a national moment of silence at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Israeli authorities have said since the end of the ceasefire-hostage deal with Hamas last month that Gaza terror groups are holding 24 hostages still thought to be alive.
All of them are men abducted on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza. The terror groups also hold the remains of at least 35 hostages, including a soldier killed fighting in the 2014 Gaza war.
The deal saw Hamas release 33 women, children, civilian men over 50 and those deemed “humanitarian cases,” in exchange for some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, including over 270 serving life terms over the murders of dozens of Israelis. Also released in the deal were five Thai nationals held in Gaza who were not included in the original agreement.
Eight of the captives released in the deal were dead, including Ariel Bibas, 4, his brother Kfir, nine months, and their mother Shiri.
The ceasefire’s 42-day first phase expired on March 2 amid Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second phase, which would have required a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza — a red line for the premier’s allies. Israel resumed hostilities in Gaza on March 18.
Hamas had released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that in the early weeks of the war. Eight hostages have been rescued from captivity by troops alive, and the bodies of 41 have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors, and the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
The Times of Israel Community.