Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that the fate of three hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza is currently unknown, casting new doubt on the number of captives still alive amid growing calls for a ceasefire and renewed negotiations.
In a video message released Wednesday, Netanyahu stated that Israeli authorities are “certain” 21 hostages remain alive in Gaza, but there is “uncertainty” surrounding the condition of three others. His remarks come after conflicting reports, including claims made by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who said just a week earlier that 24 hostages were believed to be alive. Trump, speaking at a public event, offered no source for his figures.
The Israeli advocacy group Hostages and Missing Families Forum responded to the developments by urging the government to halt its military expansion in Gaza and prioritise securing the return of all 59 remaining hostages—both living and deceased.
“This is the most urgent and important national task,” a spokesperson for the group said, calling on Netanyahu “to stop the war until the return of the last abductee.”
The issue has exposed growing internal contradictions within Israel’s leadership. While Netanyahu has stated that rescuing the hostages is a “very important goal”, he has also reaffirmed that “the supreme goal is to achieve victory over our enemies.”
This was seemingly contradicted by the Israel Defence Forces’ chief spokesperson, Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, who earlier claimed that “the objective of the operation is the return of our hostages and the dismantling of the Hamas regime.”
However, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, operational orders issued this week by IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi rank “returning the hostages” at the bottom of a six-point list of strategic priorities—placing the military defeat of Hamas at the top.
Since the October 7 Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, which left approximately 1,200 people dead and 251 taken hostage, the war in Gaza has escalated dramatically.
While Israel has managed to secure the return of 196 hostages—147 of them alive—most were freed under two temporary ceasefire deals brokered late last year.
Gaza’s health ministry, operated by Hamas, reports that more than 52,600 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict so far. Over 2,500 of those deaths occurred after Israel resumed its military operations on March 18, ending a two-month truce aimed at facilitating hostage negotiations.
In recent weeks, Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza for over nine consecutive weeks. The United Nations and its partners have warned of critical shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, describing the humanitarian crisis as “catastrophic.”
Israeli officials have been accused of preparing plans for indefinite occupation of parts of Gaza and forcibly displacing civilians to the south—measures that have drawn sharp criticism from the international community.
Mmesoma muogilim
Follow us on:
