199 Israelis held by resistance in Gaza: Israel says

The number of Israelis thought to be being held by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza has risen to 199, according to Israel.

“We have updated the families of 199 hostages,” military spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a media briefing today.

“The efforts on the hostages are a top national priority. The army and Israel are working around the clock to bring them back.”

Families of those who are missing, and thought to be being held by the resistance, have said Israel isn’t doing enough to bring them home.

On Saturday, families of Israelis captured by the Palestinian resistance and taken to Gaza demanded swift action from the government to bring them home – amid calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign as it emerged the bodies of hostages had been found. Many demanded the Israeli government cut a deal with the resistance, or walk.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had found the bodies of some of the prisoners of war during last Saturday’s attack on the country after carrying out sorties on the outskirts of Gaza last week.

As a result of Israel’s relentless bombing campaign, 13 Israelis held by the resistance have been killed in Gaza, the resistance announced last week.

Noi Katsman, whose brother Hayim was killed during the attack by Hamas on Israeli settlements near Gaza on 7 October 2023, says his brother would be against Israel’s bombing of Gaza, which has so far left nearly 3,000 Palestinians dead. Katsman says he does not believe in Israel’s strategy of ‘killing more and more Palestinians’ to achieve security, a policy he asserts has failed time and time again and only fuels the cycle of violence.

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