There are only 21 living hostages remaining in Gaza, US President Donald Trump told reporters, announcing that three had died in captivity.
“They said that only 24 are living, and I now correct... I say 21 because as of today, it’s 21. Three have died. So this, this is a terrible situation,” Trump told reporters at a Tuesday press conference after he met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
He did not follow up to say which hostages have supposedly died.
“We’re trying to get the hostages out. We’ve gotten a lot of them out. As the expression goes, ‘There’s 21 plus a lot of dead bodies,’” the US president added.
In a statement on X/Twitter, Gal Hirsch, coordinator for the hostages and missing, disputed Trump’s assertion that there are now 21 living hostages.
“Currently, 59 hostages are being held by the terrorist organization Hamas. Twenty-four of them are on the list of living hostages. Thirty-five of them are on the list of deceased hostages, with their deaths officially determined. Fifty-four of the hostages are Israeli citizens. Five of the hostages are foreign nationals,” he wrote.
“The coordination unit maintains continuous contact with all the hostages’ families, and we are available to them for updates, clarifications, and hostages’ status reviews in various ways and at any time. All the families of the hostages are always updated with the information we have regarding their loved ones,” he added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum on Wednesday issued a statement that read, “Once again, we demand that the Israeli government share with us immediately if there is new information that has been withheld from us.”
The forum added that the official number that had been conveyed to them was 24 living hostages.
Previous Trump, Sara Netanyahu remarks
In late April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said 24 hostages were alive in Gaza, though his wife, Sara, appeared to correct him.
“There are up to 24 living hostages in Gaza,” Netanyahu said. Sara whispered beside him, “Fewer,” to which Netanyahu emphasized, “Up to 24 living hostages.”
Last week, Trump said he thought the number of remaining living hostages was fewer than 24, saying, “Out of 59 hostages, 24 are alive, but my understanding now is that that number is even smaller.”