Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin
Oron Shaul and Hadar GoldinCourtesy of the families

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last week convened the Ministerial Committee on Prisoners and Missing Persons to discuss the negotiations with Hamas for the release of the Israelis being held by the organization, Channel 13 News revealed on Wednesday.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the debate took place via a secure line and was attended by the ministers who are members of the committee - Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.

This is the first update received by the committee on the contacts with Hamas that are being conducted through mediators, which may indicate the seriousness of the contacts.

The family of missing soldier Hadar Goldin issued a statement following the report saying that "there is an opportunity to bring back our son Hadar and Sgt. Oron Shaul and the civilians [Avera] Mengistu and [Hisham] al-Sayed. Missing the opportunity now would be a national irresponsibility."

The family also reported that the coordinator of Prisoners and Missing Persons, Yaron Blum, updated them last week on the contacts with Hamas.