Families of Israeli hostages seek urgent meeting with PM Netanyahu, urge action to secure hostage deal

The "Hostages and Missing Families Forum" in Israel requested an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in its latest effort to bring their loved ones back from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Some 97 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza after more than a year since they were violently kidnapped during a surprise invasion of Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. It is unclear how many of the remaining hostages are still alive. There are an additional four hostages being held in Gaza since before the attack last year.

The formal request to meet the prime minister came from a panel consisting of six hostage family members who were reportedly chosen to represent the families of all hostages.

"Before [teams] go to negotiations, after the assassination of [Hamas head Yahya] Sinwar, and before any meeting with political forums who do not fully represent the hostage families, we demand again what we asked for over six months ago - an urgent meeting between the prime minister and the body that represents all hostage families," the families wrote in a joint letter to Netanyahu.

In their letter, the relatives emphasized that Israel should capitalize on its recent military gains against the Iranian-led terrorist network by prioritizing the return of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

"The series of security achievements," the joint letter stated, "mandate the creation of a clear, determined, and brave policy in order to realize victory. There will be no such [victory] and never can be victory without the return of all the hostages - the living for rehabilitation and the dead for burial.”

"Now is the time to bring all the hostages home," the families urged, noting that time was running out for the hostages and Israel should, therefore, seek the immediate release of all hostages at one time.

"Time [going by] is continuing to endanger the hostages, and it is clear to all that part have paid with their lives for the continuation of the war."

The families concluded the letter by urging Netanyahu to meet with them, "without discrimination, without political selection, [and] without further delay."

The Biden administration has repeatedly blasted the Hamas leadership for refusing to secure a hostage agreement. Israeli and American officials assess that the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was not interested in a deal and preferred to escalate the conflict into a regional full-scale war. Some believed Sinwar's death this month would facilitate an agreement to release the hostages.

In early October, Mossad Director David Barnea and CIA Director William Burns discussed a proposal to link Israel’s recent military successes against Hezbollah in Lebanon to a hostage deal with Hamas in Gaza.

Hezbollah began launching attacks on Israel's north as early as Oct. 8, 2023, just one day after Hamas terrorists massacred 1,200 and kidnapped 251 people from southern border communities near Gaza. Hezbollah insisted it would continue to fire rockets, missiles and drones into Israel as long as the war in Gaza continued.

However, after Israel eliminated most of Hezbollah’s leadership, including Sec.-Gen Hassan Nasrallah, and degraded much of the terror group's military capabilities, Hezbollah indicated it was willing to discuss an unconditional ceasefire.

Barnea and Netanyahu attempted to leverage Israel’s successes against Hezbollah by pressuring Hamas to agree to a hostage deal. Netanyahu and the IDF offered to spare the lives of Hamas terrorists who surrendered and released the hostages.

However, Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ deputy political leader in Qatar, after Sinwar’s death, vowed that the terror group would not release any Israeli hostages as long as the IDF continues its military operations in the Gaza Strip.