US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday that there are only 21 living hostages remaining in Gaza, 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 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,'” Trump added.
In a statement on X/Twitter, Gal Hirsch, the coordinator for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, 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 Hostages and Missing Families Forum 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.”
The Hostages Families Forum issued a statement in early Wednesday which read, “Once again, we demand that the Israeli government—if there is new information that has been withheld from us—share it with us immediately.
The forum added that the official number which had been conveyed to them was 24 living hostages.
Previous Trump, Sara Netanyahu remarks
In late April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli media last week that 24 hostages were alive in Gaza as 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.”
In early May, Trump said he thought the number of remaining living hostages was fewer than 24.
“Out of 59 hostages, 24 are alive – but my understanding now is that that number is even smaller,” Trump said.
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