Trump suggests fewer than 20 hostages remain alive; families demand new information
‘The 20 is actually probably not 20 because a couple of them are not around any longer,’ US president says; Israeli hostage envoy insists ‘no change’ in figures
US President Donald Trump indicated during a press conference in the Oval Office on Friday that fewer than 20 hostages held by terror groups in Gaza are still alive, sparking despair from the families of the captives and a denial from Israel’s hostage point man.
Speaking to reporters in the White House, Trump took credit for the release of hostages during the last ceasefire deal between January and March, decried Hamas’s “extortion,” and spoke about efforts to bring the final group of captives back home.
“So now they have 20,” he said, “but the 20 is actually probably not 20 because a couple of them are not around any longer.”
In his statement, the president did not elaborate on his assertion that fewer than 20 hostages are alive, and insisted that “We’re doing everything we can to get the hostages out, it’s not easy.”
“The situation has to end, it’s extortion and it has to end,” he said, referencing Hamas’s hostage taking and negotiations, and added that he thinks it would be “safer, in many ways,” to free the hostages militarily, instead of through a deal with Hamas.
In the Oval Office, Trump was also asked why the US appears to be backing the Israeli decision to take over Gaza City when the hostage families are opposed and worry that it will condemn their loved ones to death.
“Not all of them,” Trump replied, apparently referring to a minority of relatives of hostages who back the expanded Gaza operation.
“And you have to understand, I’m the one who got all of the hostages out,” he said, taking credit for the release of “hundreds” of hostages, though fewer than 150 captives remained in Gaza when he took office on January 20.
After the president’s comments to the press, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement reading: “Mr. President, there are 50 hostages. For us, each and every one of them is a world in itself.”
“If [Strategic Affairs Minister Ron] Dermer, who only talks to the Americans and doesn’t bother to talk to or meet with the families of the hostages, knows something different, he should have informed the families first,” the families said.
Gal Hirsch, the government’s point man on the hostages, issued a statement following the remarks: “According to the information we have, there is no change in the number of living hostages.”
“Twenty of the hostages are alive, two [others] are in grave danger for their lives, 28 are no longer alive and have been declared deceased,” Hirsch wrote to the families.
Israel has long stated that terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive, and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.
Trump’s comments came as Israel prepares to launch a large-scale operation to conquer Gaza City and amid a flurry of international efforts to bring the sides back to the negotiation table to forestall the operation.
Israel is expected to launch its new offensive on Gaza City in mid-September, some two weeks after newly called-up reservists are set to report for duty on September 2, Channel 12 reported on Friday.
Some one million Palestinians currently in Gaza City will be called upon to evacuate as soon as Sunday, the network said.
According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the political echelon are pushing to speed up the launch of the operation, while the military wants to first take steps to safeguard the hostages and the troops, and also evacuate the Palestinians from Gaza City and ensure there is international legitimacy for the operation.
The network cited Israeli officials as saying it is urgent to get out the hostages as soon as possible due to their dire condition. Sources cited by the outlet added that there are currently no substantive disagreements between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire-hostage deal, but “it all depends on Netanyahu.”
“There are no magic solutions,” the sources were quoted as saying. “If [we] want to bring back the hostages [we] can do that now.”
The terror group recently said it accepted a phased hostage-ceasefire deal that Israel had agreed to in the past, while Netanyahu has vowed to push on in Gaza City and to negotiate only for a deal that would release all the hostages. A source cited by Channel 12 said a partial deal was never on the table, and that Israel has only sought a comprehensive deal in two phases.
Despite the apparent impasse in the ceasefire talks, Israel is expected to send negotiators to renewed talks in the coming days, Channel 12 reported, adding that talks have already begun on setting the time and place for the negotiations, which have stalled since Israel and the US recalled their negotiators from Doha last month.
The network added that it is unclear where the renewed talks will take place, and that they will commence in a location other than Doha or Cairo, where they have taken place until now.
Israel reportedly assesses that the impending operation in Gaza City is placing great pressure on Hamas, possibly leading to greater flexibility in the talks.
According to the network, Netanyahu seeks to drive that point home by renaming the operation “Iron Fist,” rather than the name “Gideon’s Chariots 2” that has been used until now, following the original Operation Gideon’s Chariots that was launched in May.
Sources present in Netanyahu’s consultations say he has been using the name Operation Iron Fist over the past couple of days, Channel 12 reported.
Israel, which has called up tens of thousands of army reservists, is pressing ahead with its plan to seize Gaza’s biggest urban center despite international criticism of an operation likely to force the displacement of many more Palestinians, and despite concerns by top security officials that it could endanger the hostages.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 62,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 459. The toll includes two police officers and three Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
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