Slain hostage Lobanov’s widow refuses to meet Netanyahu as he visits family home
Michal Lobanov also reportedly shuns phone call from prime minister, though murdered hostage’s parents accept condolence visit
The widow of one of six hostages who were murdered by Hamas late last week refused to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrived at the family home for a condolence visit on Tuesday.
Netanyahu visited the home of hostage Alex Lobanov in Ashkeon. But while Alex’s parents Oksana and Gregory met the premier, two days after their son’s funeral, the dead captive’s widow Michal reportedly refused to meet Netanyahu or speak to him on the phone.
The gesture came after earlier this week Channel 12 reported that other families of the six hostages have also refused to speak with Netanyahu amid mounting anger that the government has not reached a deal with Hamas for the release of hostages held in Gaza, with fears that further hostages will die the longer they are in captivity.
Michal was five months’ pregnant when Alex was taken hostage and the couple has a two-year-old. She has since given birth. Michal has in the past addressed mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv calling for the government to reach a hostage deal.
Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Alex’s parents on Sunday and issued a rare apology for their son’s death, according to a statement about the call from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“I want to tell you how sorry I am, and I ask for your forgiveness for not succeeding in bringing Sasha home alive,” he told Oksana and Gregory, using their son’s shortened name, according to the statement.
The PMO has not yet reported that Netanyahu spoke with any of the other families so far, or visited their homes, though it has previously said he intends to speak with them.
Channel 12 reported Sunday that two families had turned down the offer of a call from the prime minister and that others were yet to respond.
Lobanov, 32, was abducted from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im during the devastating October 7 Hamas attack, which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251 to Gaza, mostly civilians. Over 350 were massacred at the rave, where Lobanov was working as head bartender.
The IDF announced on Sunday the deaths of Lobanov, 32, as well as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Ori Danino, 25, Carmel Gat, 40, and Almog Sarusi, 27.
All six were abducted alive on October 7. and IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said Hamas murdered them shortly before the IDF found their bodies Saturday afternoon.
Autopsies showed the six hostages were executed by gunshot between Thursday and Friday morning.
The discovery of the six captives’ bodies has brought to a fever pitch hostage families’ accusation that Netanyahu is thwarting a hostage deal out of fear his far-right coalition partners will topple the government if he ends the fighting in Gaza.
Netanyahu, for his part, says that Hamas has refused to hold serious talks since December.
Among the sticking points in the negotiations is Netanyahu’s new demand that Israel control the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, which separates Egypt from Gaza. The demand was absent from Israel’s May 27 proposal, which serves as the basis for the talks.
Netanyahu doubled down his demand for Israel to remain in control of the Philadelphi Corridor in a live broadcast press conference Monday night.
Ninety-seven of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
They were abducted as thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
