Families of Israeli hostages demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he was wrong about the number of captives still in Gaza.
Netanyahu spoke to American conservative commentator Ben Shapiro in an interview published on the eve of the second anniversary of Hamas’s cross-border incursion into Israel.
At the beginning of the interview, he listed Israel’s victories over Iran and its proxies, adding that “we still have things to do to complete the victory.”
“What began in Gaza will end in Gaza with the release of 40 of our hostages, 46 actually, 20 are alive, and the end of Hamas rule… in Gaza,” he said.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum corrected Netanyahu, saying there were still 48 hostages in Gaza, “not 40 nor 46.”
“They were all kidnapped under your watch,” the group said in a post on X. “So, we will inform you: there are 48 hostages, men and women, in Gaza.”
The post continued: “It’s time to reach an agreement that ends the longest war in our history and recovers all 48 hostages, men and women, for rehabilitation and burial. 48. Not 40, not 46. All of them, now.”
People gather at the former site of the Nova music festival in Israel on Tuesday. On October 7, 2023, festival-goers were massacred during the Hamas-led raid, in which 251 people were returned to Gaza (Getty)
The group said it had demanded “an explanation and clarification” from Netanyahu about the “incorrect number of hostages.”
“Two years ago today, 251 hostages, men and women, were kidnapped in their pajamas from their beds, their bases and from a music festival, taken to hellish captivity in Gaza. Four more hostages had already been in Gaza for many years. All were kidnapped under his supervision,” they posted on Tuesday.
In August, when there were still 50 hostages in Gaza, Netanyahu also faced criticism after pledging “the release of our 20 hostages.”
Some 251 people were taken captive during the Hamas-led cross-border attack on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel. About 1,200 people died.
Netanyahu’s government faces growing criticism at home and abroad for failing to end the war and return hostages, and for Israel’s conduct in military operations.
A poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute ahead of the second anniversary of the attacks, on September 30, found that 66 percent of Israelis now say it is time for the war to end, up 13 percentage points from this time last year.
Ninety-three percent of Arabs surveyed said they believed it was time for the war to end, compared to 60 percent of Jews.
“While in last year’s survey there was already a consensus among Arabs that the war should end, among Jews there has been a change of opinion: last year less than half thought that the war should end, while today there is a solid majority who think that the time has come,” the corresponding report states.
A banner in Jerusalem on Tuesday shows photographs of hostages who were kidnapped and held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved).
Seventy-three percent of the 800 respondents thought Israel’s position in the international arena was worse than before October 7.
Most participants stated that the main objective of the current war should be to return the hostages home.
Sixty-four percent of Israelis said they thought Netanyahu should take responsibility on Oct. 7 and resign, either now (45 percent) or after the war (19 percent), the poll recorded.