Netanyahu reveals 'doubt' about status of three hostages, says 21 are 'certainly alive' following comments by Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening addressed the issue of the number of living hostages in Gaza, following remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump about the hostages on Tuesday.

"We know for sure that there are 21 alive. There is no debate about that,” Netanyahu said in a video shared to his personal social media accounts. 

“There are three more who, unfortunately, are in doubt whether they are alive," Netanyahu continued. 

“And so the certain thing that we say 21, we are not giving up on anyone,” the prime minister stressed, “Not the remaining three, nor the others, all the others. We want to bring everyone home.” 

The comments by Netanyahu came just a day after President Trump shocked many hostages' families by saying that only 21 hostages remain alive, when the official Israeli figure was 24. 

Trump’s remarks came in response to a question from reporters at the White House, where he addressed the situation in Gaza. 

A reporter asked Trump about Gaza following Israel’s announcement of a new military operation aimed at taking control of most of the Strip.

“Well, we’ve gone very slowly, because we want to try and get as many hostages saved as possible, and we've done a good job in that regard,” Trump stated. 

Trump described how one of the hostages that visited him in the White House told him there are still 59 hostages in Gaza, to which he responded, “‘Wow, that's more than I thought.’ They said, ‘Well, only 24 are living.’” 

Trump continued, “But now it's 21. That was a week ago. Now it's 21 are living.” 

Following Trump’s statements, Gal Hirsch, the government coordinator for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, disputed Trump's statement on 𝕏. 

“The terrorist organization Hamas is currently holding 59 hostages,” Hirsch wrote. “24 of them are on the list of living hostages. 35 of them are on the list of kidnapped victims, their deaths officially confirmed.” 

Netanyahu’s remarks come amid reports of new mediation efforts to secure the release of the hostages. On Tuesday, an Egyptian source reported that Cairo had received a new American proposal for a hostage-ceasefire deal. 

Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya also reported talks by mediators on a new proposal on Wednesday, saying the U.S. is hoping to have a deal ready before President Trump visits the Middle East next week. 

President Trump appeared to indicate efforts towards a new proposal in additional comments he made on Wednesday, saying, “There’s a lot of talk going on about Gaza right now… You'll be knowing probably in the next 24 hours.”

Israeli news site Haaretz caused another outcry on Wednesday when it published a report about a military document outlining plans for the new Gaza offensive. In the document, Haaretz said the IDF had ranked the return of the hostages as the least important of several objectives. 

According to Haaretz, the document listed the following objectives in apparent order of importance: 

1. Defeating Hamas

2. Achieving operational control over Gaza 

3. Demilitarizing the enclave 

4. Eliminating Hamas government targets 

5. Moving the civilian  population out of Hamas-controlled territory 

6. Returning the hostages 

While the IDF did not immediately respond to the Haaretz report, on Monday IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said returning the hostages is the military’s most important goal, followed by the defeat of Hamas.