Israel has downgraded the number of hostages believed to remain alive in Gaza from 23 to 20.
The estimate, based on the latest intelligence reports, was confirmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.
In a video message posted to his X account, Netanyahu said: “We will not break. We will fight.”
He went on: “If anyone needs to be thanked, it's our heroic soldiers. Without their sacrifice and without the pressure we exert through them, we would not have released 148 hostages alive and also brought back fallen soldiers.
"There are 20 more alive for sure. We are working to bring back everyone and the other fallen soldiers.”
The announcement comes amid efforts to negotiate a new hostage release deal through mediators in Egypt and Qatar, with another round of talks beginning in Doha on Wednesday.
A total of 58 hostages, living and dead, are believed to remain in Gaza following the release of Edan Alexander on Monday.
Netanyahu earlier this week that Israel was not giving up “on a single one” of its war aims.
He said that he had spoken earlier in the day with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and would discuss the hostage crisis with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee later that night.
“We’re making all efforts, including today, to bring about the release of all our hostages and to achieve our war aims. We’re not giving up on a single one,” Netanyahu said in a video post on X.
On Tuesday, the mother of Edan Alexander pointedly omitted the prime minister from the list of those she thanked for her son’s freedom.
However, Witkoff relayed to the family that Netanyahu’s efforts were critical to her son’s release.
The confirmation of the new estimate has cleared up confusion over the Israeli government’s official figures. Prior to Alexander’s release, the tally stood at 24, but Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, was caught on a microphone saying that “fewer” were known to be alive.
The slip prompted criticism from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which demanded urgent clarification. The government has not named which of the captives previously though to be alive it now believes to have been killed.
