Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers that only half of the 101 hostages held in the Gaza Strip are still alive, local media reported on Sunday.
In a closed-door meeting of the Israeli parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Netanyahu said that according to the latest information, only “half of the hostages in the Gaza Strip are alive,” according to Army Radio and portals such as Times of Israel and Haaretz.
The army’s latest estimate was 35 hostages dead after more than 11 months of fighting and heavy bombardment by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, where more than 41,400 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas terror group.
Four of the 101 hostages have been held captive in Gaza for years, while the other 97 were kidnapped during the October 7 attacks last year, in which fighters took 251 people and killed 1,200 on Israeli soil.
Furthermore, according to leaks from the same meeting, Netanyahu negotiated the obstruction of a hostage agreement, something he is accused of by part of the Israeli public after adding new clauses – such as the Israeli presence on the border between Egypt and Gaza – to the negotiations that are now stalled due to the escalation of violence in Lebanon.
#Netanyahu #hostages #Gaza #alive