Source says fate of 2 foreign hostages, 1 Israeli unknown as families demand clarity

A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel believes 21 hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip are alive and that there is grave doubt regarding the fate of three other captives, an official with knowledge of the details said Thursday that “no signs of life have been received from [the three hostages] since the period shortly after the outbreak of the war.”

Two are foreign nationals and one is Israeli, the official said, adding: “Their families have been updated on this situation since then.”

Hamas and other terror groups are holding 59 hostages, 35 of whom are confirmed dead – 32 Israelis, and 3 foreigners.

“The families of the hostages are continuously and thoroughly updated about the condition of their loved ones,” the official continued, adding that “all relevant information possessed by the Hostages, Missing Persons and Returnees Directorate of the Prime Minister’s Office” is conveyed to hostage families by intelligence officers.

The relevant embassies in Israel maintain contact with the families of foreign hostages, the official added, saying: “Their families are supported by Israel, just as the families of Israeli hostages are supported.”

There are two foreign hostages, Bipin Joshi of Nepal and Pinta Nattapong of Thailand, who have not been officially declared dead by Israel.

There are two Israeli hostages, IDF soldier Tamir Nimrodi and civilian Ariel Cunio, with no publicly known signs of life since they were abducted by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023.

But Herut Nimrodi, the mother of Tamir, told reporters Thursday evening that her son is the Israeli hostage indicated by the authorities.

“It’s not that there’s new information,” Nimrodi told reporters on a Zoom meeting organized by the Hostages Family Forum. “They are just mentioning the three hostages for whom there have been no signs of life since October 7.”

She said that “as hostages came home, we wished we’d get some details of Tamir, but nothing… there’s no indication yet and we’re still waiting.”

Nimrodi added that there has been no new information about Tamir over the past 19 months, but in recent days, “the comments from Sara Netanyahu and [US President Donald] Trump just raised the question of what has happened to him.”

“As a mother, I’m very worried,” she said. “If he’s surviving, if he’s held alone. I can’t even describe what that means to me.”

Hostages’ families outraged

Netanyahu’s announcement on Wednesday about the fears for the three hostages’ fate came after separate comments by his wife and by US President Donald Trump that called into question Israel’s official estimate that 24 living hostages remain in the Strip.

“We know for certain that there are 21 [hostages] alive, about this there is no dispute,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted to his X account, but “there are another three who, unfortunately, there is doubt if they are alive.”

“We are not giving up on any of them,” he added.

During an English-language briefing by the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday, a PMO spokesperson reiterated Netanyahu’s message, saying that “there are three [hostages] for whom we are extremely concerned. Israel will not give up. Israel will never give up. We will bring them all home.”

“Hamas’s military and governing capabilities will be destroyed, and the terror threat from Gaza will be removed, and we will not stop until these goals are achieved,” the spokesperson added.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday evening that “as of today, it’s 21 [hostages who are still alive]. Three have died,” without providing additional details.

Asked whether Israel was disappointed in Trump’s commenting on the sensitive issue and contradicting Israel’s official number at the time, the PMO told The Times of Israel: “We very much welcome President Trump’s and the American people’s commitment to the security and the safety and the ongoing future of this country. We see eye to eye in every single way. There is no daylight between our two governments because we coordinate all of our actions together.”

Trump’s comments sent shockwaves through the families of the hostages, who demanded on Wednesday that they be provided with any updated intelligence on their loved ones.

Amid the resurgent worry over the hostages’ status, Haaretz also revealed Wednesday that in a military document outlining plans for a new Gaza offensive, the IDF had ranked the return of the hostages as its least important objective.

The document, presented to commanders on Tuesday, placed the Hamas-held captives in sixth and last place, a fact incongruent with army officials’ previous assertions to the Israeli public that the return of the hostages was the IDF’s most important war goal.

Hostage deal prospects as Gaza campaign looms

The families of captives also called on Netanyahu in their Wednesday statement to pause the military campaign in Gaza until all hostages are returned, calling their release “the most important and most urgent national mission.”

Israel embarked on an expanded ground campaign in March to pressure Hamas to accept its terms for a new hostage release deal in Gaza.

Seeing Hamas wouldn’t budge, the IDF said over the weekend that it would be calling up tens of thousands of reservists to add to the pressure on Hamas. On Sunday, the security cabinet approved IDF plans to conquer Gaza and hold it.

Multiple Arab countries are pushing Hamas to accept another hostage release deal to forestall the expanded Israeli offensive in Gaza, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel early Thursday.

“There is now a lot of pressure,” said the official, “including from Jordan.”

“The entire region is pressuring them for some sort of deal.”

On Monday, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel that Jerusalem is trying to “leverage” Trump’s visit to the region next week, in combination with the mass call-up of reservists, to push Hamas to accept a hostage release deal.

In addition, the official said, Qatar is no longer “putting spokes in the wheels” of the Egyptian proposal for a deal.

“We hope that all these factors will come together in the coming days and maybe will lead to a deal,” said the official. “We are giving this time to Hamas. We are saying, take this deal now, because if we start a war and there is a deal, it will be under far worse circumstances for you. Take the deal, because now there is an opportunity, a window.”

Asked to what extent Trump’s upcoming Middle East visit will influence Israel’s military and strategic plans in Gaza, the PMO told The Times of Israel on Thursday that “Washington DC and Jerusalem are working side by side, shoulder to shoulder. We are fully coordinated, we are fully cooperating, as befits the closeness of our relationship and the shared values, and also the shared threats that we face.”

The PMO also said that “Israel is examining ways right now as we speak so that aid can be delivered into Gaza to get to the people that need it and not to Hamas, who steal it. We know that they use that aid to fund their terrorist operation.”