President Isaac Herzog appealed to his government on Sunday to intensify efforts to release hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"I am praying and crying out, working and hoping for the immediate return of our brothers and sisters kidnapped in Gaza. We are marking a year since the single deal for the return of hostages, a deal that brought home many of our brothers and sisters, as part of the supreme and most binding covenant between the state and its citizens," Herzog noted.

He emphasized, "We are at a critical point in everything concerning the hostages. We have achieved many successes in this arduous campaign, but we must also candidly admit – every day they are not here with us is a failure."

"We must understand and internalize that if we do not bring them home, we will remain with a bleeding and open wound that will forever scar us as a society and as a nation. We must act on all fields and with all tools, and do everything urgently to bring them home. And that's exactly what I said two weeks ago to incoming President Donald Trump in our conversation, and also to outgoing President Joe Biden at the White House," Herzog stated.