Families of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip accused on Monday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government of presenting to US President-elect Donald Trump misleading information about the fate of the prisoners to evade a hostage deal under US pressure.
This came after reports issued last week said Trump did not know that half of the Israeli detainees held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip were alive.
Israel's Channel 13 said Monday that while the US and Israel are focused on negotiations to end the war in Lebanon, the file of Israeli prisoners in Gaza remains stalled amid declining efforts to conclude a deal.
“This situation angers the families and drives them crazy; they see that the government, which has turned its back on the prisoners' file for 416 days, is working with all its might to prevent a deal with Hamas despite knowing fully well that this means threatening the lives of the prisoners,” the channel said.
Sources close to Trump confirmed to the channel his interest in the prisoners' case.
However, they added, Tel Aviv is telling the upcoming administration that most of the prisoners were killed in order to evade concluding a hostage deal with Hamas, under US pressure, after the inauguration of the new administration on January 20.
The channel said that at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, some compared Trump to President Ronald Reagan, who ended the Iran hostage crisis after taking power in 1981.
It added that during his election campaign, Trump repeatedly said that Hamas' attacks on Israel would “never have happened” if he were president. He had also promised to release the hostages in Gaza.
An official close to President Isaac Herzog had earlier revealed that Trump did not know about the fate of the Israeli captives.
The official said that when Herzog called to congratulate Trump on his election, he heard the President-elect say that the abductees had been killed while in Hamas captivity.
To Trump’s surprise, Herzog replied that more than half were still alive.
Therefore, the Israelis concluded that Netanyahu misled Trump by telling him that most of the captives were dead.
“I can confirm, based on sources I speak with, that Israeli government officials are informing Trump and his team that the majority of the hostages were killed,” said the father of a captured soldier, Rubi Chen.
He said the government is using this approach to reduce any potential pressure from the Trump administration on Israel to reach a hostage deal.
Gil Dickmann, cousin of Carmel Gat who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and killed in captivity, wrote on X, “Who is spreading these lies? Who convinces Trump that the hostages are dead? Instead of returning everyone quickly, dead or alive, you waited until the hostages were killed in captivity, and now you lie and say that most of them are dead to justify abandoning them again.”
At a press conference marking one year since the hostage deal that brought 81 Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals home, released hostage Raz Ben Ami, said, “if they could only manage to understand what it is to be in subhuman conditions in the tunnels, surrounded by terrorists for 54 days – there is no way they would let the hostages stay there for 415 days.
Earlier, Israeli Democratic Party leader Yair Golan warned that Netanyahu's government is trying to reach a settlement in the north to foil a deal with Hamas in Gaza.
