May 2, 2025
During a National Day of Prayer event at the White House on Thursday, US President Donald Trump discussed the situation of the hostages in Gaza, and said that fewer than 24 are still alive.
During his address, Trump addressed the parents of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, who were present in the crowd: "I can not imagine your pain, but we're all alongside you, we stand by you, and we're going to do everything possible in the very short period of time. As you know, things are heating up. I've gotten a lot of hostages out. But they (Hamas) want to do it as slowly as possible because they use them as pawns."
He declared, "We're working very hard to save your son. We've got news coming out both good and bad, but we're working very hard."
The President recounted how he met with both the families of hostages and the released hostages.
He said that one of the hostages he met was wearing the number 59 to symbolize the number of hostages still being held. "I asked if they're all living, they said, 'No, 24 are living.' I said '24?' So 24 of the 59 are living, and they knew because they had just gotten out, and the others are all dead."
Trump added that he spoke to the parents of the bereaved hostages, "and as much as you want your beautiful boy out, they want their beautiful boys out so badly. Almost as much as if he were alive. It was amazing to see the level of love for the children."
He added, "Think of that, out of 59, you had 24 that were living, and now I understand that it's not even that number."
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SOURCE: Israel National News