Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, visited five of the 20 recently returned Gaza hostages at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah on Tuesday evening, expressing gratitude and a commitment to securing the return of the bodies of those still missing.
“Upon the conclusion of the holiday, my wife, Sara, and I came to the hospital to meet the dear boys who have returned home,” Netanyahu said in a statement in Hebrew. “Over the past two years, my wife and I have met with their families many times. We cried with them, we hugged them, and I promised them: We will bring them back. There wasn’t a day I didn’t receive reports on their condition—what we knew, what I requested to know.”
He continued, “I promised to bring them back—and we brought them back. And now, after they have been embraced by their families, we will also embrace them.”
The Netanyahus then met with hostages Avinatan Or, Alon Ohel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Evyatar David and Eitan Mor, who were released together with 15 others on Monday as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal.
The prime minister told them, “We are all thrilled to see you here. The people of Israel waited for you. Your wonderful families did not give up for a moment, and neither did we. The mission is not yet complete. We are committed to bringing back the fallen as well, and we will not give up on anyone.”
Sara Netanyahu added, “How good it is to see you. This is an unparalleled emotional moment. We prayed, hoped and acted so that you would be here again with your families. The prime minister and I never stopped thinking about you. I wish you robust health. You are heroes!”
Israel confirmed Tuesday that it had received four of the 28 bodies set to be returned for burial under the deal. “Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the bodies of four deceased hostages,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“All the families of the hostages have been updated accordingly and our hearts are with them in this difficult hour,” it added. “The effort to return our hostages is ongoing and will not cease until the last hostage is returned.”
Turning to those still unaccounted for, Netanyahu pledged at Beilinson: “With the same determination, the same responsibility, the same seriousness, we are dealing with the return of the fallen. We will spare no effort and no means to bring them back.”
He concluded, “I believe that this way we will first receive good news about the return of additional fallen hostages, I hope in the coming hours. But we are determined to bring back everyone.”
The prime minister credited Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for the hostages and missing persons, for “doing a fantastic job dealing with the families and in contact with the hostages. Truly, heartfelt thanks to Gal.”
