US President Trump alarms hostage families – states 3 hostages in Gaza have died, only 21 remain alive

U.S. President Donald Trump shocked the hostage families on Tuesday evening during comments to the press when he announced that only 21 hostages in Gaza remain alive. 

Trump made the comments in response to a question about the situation in 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. He then went on to describe the horrible treatment of the hostages, and the stories shared by the hostages who came to the White House earlier this year. 

The U.S. president described how one of the hostages 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.” 

Commenting that “these are young people, young people don’t die,” Trump again repeated the figure of 21 living hostages. 

“I say 21 because as of today, it's 21, three have died. So this is a terrible situation,” he remarked. “We're trying to get the hostages out. We've gotten a lot of them out, as the expression goes, there's 21 plus a lot of dead bodies.” 

President Trump did not explain how the U.S. determined that only 21 hostages are alive, down from the previously reported 24.

Trump's statements followed a similar incident last week, involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. 

The Netanyahus met with the torchbearers selected for Israel’s 77th Independence Day ceremony. In his remarks, Prime Minister Netanyahu referenced the hostages, stating, “We have another important mission, of course, not only to win, but also to bring them home. To date, we have returned 196 of our captors, 147 alive. There are up to 24 living.” 

As he spoke, Sara Netanyahu was seen mouthing the Hebrew word for “less,” prompting Netanyahu to clarify, “I say up to.” 

At that time, this incident caused a storm among the hostage families, with demands for official clarification on the actual number of living hostages. 

“What did you mean when you said ‘fewer?’ Do you know something we don’t?” the Hostages and Missing Family Forum asked in a statement shortly after. “We demand the prime minister clarify his and his wife’s comments. If there is intelligence or new information about our loved ones’ condition, we demand to know it in full.” 

A senior government official later clarified that the official government figure for the number of living hostages was 24. 

Following the release of the video in which Trump made these statements, the Hostages' Family Forum demanded that the Israeli government provide clear and accurate information. 

“We demand once again from the Israeli government that if there is any new information that has been hidden from us, pass it on to us immediately," the Forum said. The families also called on Netanyahu "to stop the war until the return of the last hostage," adding, "This is the most urgent and important national mission," they pleaded. 

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.” 

“54 of the hostages are Israeli citizens. 5 of the kidnapped are foreign citizens,” he continued. “The Investigative Committee maintains continuous contact with the families of all the hostages, and we are available to them for updates, clarifications, and Investigative Committee reviews in various ways and at any time. All families of the hostages are always updated with the information we have about their loved one.” 

The Israeli Security Cabinet has approved the resumption of large-scale military operations in Gaza, set to begin after President Trump's visit next week. The operation aims to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages and collapsing its rule.

However, the government chose to delay the start of operations by a week to allow more time for Hamas to agree to a potential hostage-ceasefire deal.