‘Pressure Hamas!’ – Families of slain hostages demand answers

“We are begging for a meeting” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says sister of fallen soldier held by Hamas since 2014.

By World Israel News Staff

Family members of the eight deceased hostages whose bodies are still being held by Hamas in Gaza held a press conference Monday night, demanding an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss efforts to repatriate the remains of their loved ones.

Their call comes amid repeated violations of the ceasefire by Hamas, as the terror group is refusing to return the bodies.

“Hamas knows where our loved ones are. We should pressure Hamas; we are counting on the prime minister. We want to see the Israeli prime minister standing up and declaring: I am returning the last of the hostages, I am using every means at my disposal, and I am returning them all,” said Ayelet Goldin.

Her brother, Hadar, fell in battle in the Gaza Strip in 2014. His body has been held by Hamas for more than a decade.

Goldin said the families are “demanding that the prime minister look us in the eye, [and] meet us… After three weeks [of ceasefire] we are begging for a meeting.”

Elad Or, whose brother Dror was murdered by Hamas and kidnapped to Gaza on Oct. 7, told The Times of Israel that he fears the ceasefire may fail before the bodies are returned.

Or’s wife, Yonat, was also killed during the Oct. 7 onslaught. Their two children and nephew were kidnapped to Gaza but later returned in a November 2023 hostage exchange.

“Some members of the government call for a return to the war, and all the hairs on my body stand up when I hear that,” Or said.

“So our call is not to go back to fight in Gaza, but to fulfill the ceasefire. We’re fearful about the ceasefire not being fulfilled, but we also see that things are progressing.”

He added, “If this deal breaks, then we’ll be like Hadar Goldin.”

Since the Trump-brokered ceasefire agreement was established last month, Hamas has violated the terms of the deal numerous times.

Israeli officials say Hamas has dragged its feet on returning the deceased hostages, even staging an elaborate deception which saw them faking the discovery of a body and then handed over the remains to the Red Cross.

DNA testing later revealed that the remains belonged to a hostage already returned to Israel in late 2023.

Israeli intelligence officials say Hamas is using the bodies as “bargaining chips” to gain leverage and could return most of them in one fell swoop, if it chose to do so.