There are “probably” fewer than 20 hostages left alive in Hamas captivity out of the 50 being held by the terror group, US President Donald Trump said at a White House press conference on Friday.
Israel’s hostage coordinator, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, denied that Israel had any knowledge to suggest that further hostages had been killed in Hamas captivity. He shared that, to Israel’s knowledge, there are 20 living hostages, the conditions of two more are of great concern, and 28 are no longer alive.
Following Trump’s comments, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that “if [Strategic Affairs] Minister [Ron] Dermer, who doesn’t bother to speak with or meet the hostage families, knows something different, he should have updated the families first.”
The forum added that each of the 50 hostages represents an entire world. “Our sacred duty is to prevent sacrifice and bring them all home.”
This is not the first time since Trump returned to the White House that he has said there are fewer hostages alive than the number officially given by the Israeli government.
The occupation of the Gaza Strip
The president asserted on Friday that not every hostage family disagreed with Israel’s plan for a military occupation of the Gaza Strip.
“The situation has to end. It’s extortion, and it has to end,” he told reporters while claiming he believed the hostages would be safer if Israel went for a full occupation very quickly.
Trump said that he didn’t know what Israel “was planning on doing” but that the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 shouldn’t be forgotten.
“Hamas knows that if they give them [the hostages], it’s probably the end of their lives,” Trump said.
The US president added, “And you have to understand, I’m the one who got all of the hostages out.” He claimed credit for the release of “hundreds” of hostages.
However, far fewer hostages have been released during Trump’s presidency, while over 100 were freed during the Biden administration’s first ceasefire deal in November 2023.