At least 21 hostages are alive, and three more are considered living although there are serious concerns for their lives, an Israeli source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday shared the same figures in a video shared on the prime minister's official social media.
The previous day, US President Donald Trump said that three hostages 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 press conference.
The three include one Israeli and two foreign nationals. There have been no signs of life from them since shortly after October 7. Their families have been updated on the situation since then.
Hamas is holding 59 hostages. Thirty-five of them have been officially confirmed deceased. Thirty-two of them are Israelis, and three are foreign nationals.
Contact with hostage families
The families of the hostages are continuously and thoroughly updated about the condition of their loved ones.
All relevant information in the possession of the IDF’s Missing Persons Unit is passed on to the hostage's family by an intelligence officer who works regularly with the family.
Hostage families are routinely invited to briefings by the Prisoners and Missing Persons Division, and military liaison officers and representatives from the Hostage, Missing and Returned Persons Directorate work with them in the civilian domain.
Contact with the families of the foreign hostages is maintained continuously through the relevant embassies.
Israel supports their families in the same way that Israeli hostage families are supported.