Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday afternoon stressed the government's commitments to freeing all hostages - both living and deceased - from Hamas captivity.
Speaking during the inauguration of the Knesset Museum, Netanyahu addressed the earlier criticism from the Hostages Families Forum, which claimed that he failed to mention the commitment to return the deceased hostages during his Sunday press conference.
"Especially in these days, when we are achieving great victories over those who came to destroy us, as we stand on the verge of concluding the campaign in which we work to defeat the remaining parts of the Iranian axis and free all the hostages — both the living and the deceased — we celebrate our independence in the heart of Jerusalem, our eternal capital. This is a day of celebration for the State of Israel and the Knesset of Israel," said Netanyahu.
Earlier, the Forum had accused: "The Hostages Families Forum demands that the Prime Minister publicly clarify his remarks from yesterday's press conference in response to a question from reporters, where he ignored the fallen hostages. Anyone who abandons the fallen will eventually abandon the living. The Prime Minister must clarify that he was wrong, that his commitment is to all 50 hostages, both living and fallen, and to ensure the return of the living for rehabilitation and the fallen for a proper and dignified burial, in a single comprehensive deal."
In fact, Netanyahu explicitly stated during the press conference that one of the five principles for ending the war was "the return of all hostages, both the living and the fallen."
He reiterated that his goal is to get all the 20 living hostages "out alive, as well as all the ones who are not alive. At the beginning of the war, we were told by a very senior commander that we had to get used to the idea that we're not even going to see one of them alive, and I disagreed. I said we'll get most, if not all of them, if we apply both military pressure and diplomatic pressure. So far, out of 255 hostages, we have 205 back, of which 148 are alive. We have 20 living still in Hamas captivity and 30 who are not alive."