Trump: I understand that fewer than 24 hostages are now alive

US President Donald Trump says he has recently learned that fewer than 24 hostages are alive in Gaza. “Out of 59, you had 24 that were living, and now I understand that it’s not even that number,” Trump says during a national day of prayer event at the White House. For months, Israel has said it believes 24 of the 59 hostages are alive, though earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara, interrupted him during a public event to say that the number was lower than the official figure. The prime minister had said there were “up to 24” living hostages.   

The incident angered hostage families who demanded that Netanyahu’s office share whatever updated intelligence it had on the fate of the captives. Trump makes the comments while giving a shoutout to the parents of Edan Alexander, the last American-Israeli hostage believed to be alive, who are in the audience on the White House lawn. “We don’t know how he’s doing, really…. We think we know, and hopefully [it’s] positive,” Trump says. “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, I know, what you’re going through.”   

 “We’re working very. very hard to save your son,” he continues. “We have news coming out — both good and bad.” “Things are heating up there,” Trump adds. The president goes on to reiterate comments he regularly makes about his interactions with released hostages; what they shared with him about the horrific conditions in which they were held; and how the parents of slain hostages are just as desperate to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones as the parents of captives who are still alive.   (Source)