Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara met on Monday night with representatives of the families of the hostages who accompanied the entourage to Washington, as well as with representatives of the families of the hostages who are in the US.
This is their first meeting as part of the visit to Washington.
The meeting was also attended by soldiers who fought on October 7 and who fought in Gaza and are accompanying the delegation, as well as representatives of bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the fighting in the towns near the Gaza border and in the Gaza Strip.
The Prime Minister said during the meeting, "This is an important visit that will give us an opportunity to present to the representatives of the American people the importance of their support for the efforts we are making, together with them, to bring about the release of all the hostages - both the living and the dead.”
"Unfortunately, there are dead. Today we were informed of two more who are no longer among the living," added the Prime Minister.
"We are determined to bring them all back. The conditions to bring them back are ripe, for the simple reason that we are putting very, very strong pressure on Hamas. We are seeing a certain change, and I think this change will grow. We intend to do it - this is an objective of the war," he stressed.
The meeting was also attended by the head of the National Security Council, the Director-General of the Prime Minister's Office, the government secretary, the military secretary and the coordinator of the prisoners and missing persons.