Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met on Sunday evening at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv with families of hostages being held in Gaza. He listened to the families' questions and answered in detail about all the efforts being made to bring them back.

At the end of the meeting, Gallant and the families lit the fourth candle of Hanukkah.

Gallant said at the candle lighting ceremony, "I say to the families, after the very moving conversation we had, that I hope that the Hanukkah candles will bring us light in the coming days and that we will all get to see the children, the parents, the women and the grandparents come back, with God's help."

"We are with you at this difficult and highly charged time, strengthening you and acting in the most determined way to try to bring them back quickly and alive, all of them," he concluded.