Donald Trump ‘understands’ fewer than 24 hostages are alive

Hostage families outraged as Benjamin Netanyahu admits victory over Hamas rather than the return of hostages is now Israel’s ‘supreme’ goal.

President Donald Trump says he understands fewer than 24 Israeli hostages are still alive. Picture: AP.

Donald Trump has said he “understands” there are fewer than 24 Israeli hostages left alive in Gaza, as Benjamin Netanyahu admits victory over Hamas, not the release of the captives, is now Jerusalem’s “supreme” goal.

Days after the Israeli Prime Minister’s wife let slip on stage that fewer than 24 captives had survived their more than 550 days in Hamas hands, the US President told an event in honour of the US National Day of Prayer: “Out of 59 hostages, 24 are alive – but my understanding now is that that number is even smaller.”

In his remarks, Mr Trump also said he did not know about the status of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, saying: “We don’t know how he’s doing … We think we know. And hopefully positive.”

His remark will come as a further blow to the families of the hostages, who have demanded the Israeli government reveal what they know about their status. Sara Netanyahu’s information reportedly came from a classified briefing to the Israeli cabinet.

Mr Netanyahu sparked further outrage on Thursday (AEST) when he said “victory” over Hamas, not the return of the hostages, was the supreme objective of the war in Gaza.

Speaking at the annual Independence Day Bible Contest in Jerusalem, Mr Netanyahu said Israel had “many goals, many goals in this war. We want to bring all our hostages home. We’ve so far brought back 147 alive, and 196 total.”

“There are another up to 24 alive, 59 total, and we want to return the living and the dead. It’s a very important goal,” Mr Netanyahu said, before adding: “But the war has a supreme goal, and the supreme goal is victory over our enemies, and this we will achieve.”

Mr Netanyahu has previously insisted the war against Hamas would continue until the militant group was destroyed and all the hostages returned safely.

He added: “Two months ago, we were pretty sure it looked like he was getting out, but they’ve toughened up a little bit and it’s a terrible thing.”

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum accused Mr Netanyahu of “falling in line” with far right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said last week the hostages “are not the most important thing” in the war against Hamas.

In response to Mr Netanyahu’s remarks, the Forum said: “The majority of the Israeli public wants the return of all the hostages before anything else,” and called the captives’ return “the supreme goal that should be guiding Israel’s government.”

Meanwhile Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli bombardment killed at least 29 people since Wednesday midnight in the enclave, which has been under Israeli aid blockade for nearly two months.

Israel resumed its campaign in the Gaza Strip on March 18, after a two-month truce collapsed over disagreements between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas whose 2023 attack triggered the conflict.

Civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said Thursday’s toll included eight people killed in an air strike on the Abu Sahlul family home in Khan Yunis refugee camp in southern Gaza.

Days before resuming its military campaign, Israel blocked all aid entering Gaza, and UN rights chief Volker Turk said the territory was witnessing a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

“Israel appears to be inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence as a group in Gaza,” he said this week.

AFP