Israeli hostage families urge Trump to uphold Gaza deal ahead of Netanyahu meeting

Families of Israeli hostages urged Donald Trump to uphold his proposed deal to end the Gaza war, ahead of the US president’s meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We respectfully ask you to stand firm against any attempts to sabotage the deal you have brought forth,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main organization representing relatives of the hostages held in Gaza, wrote in an open letter to Trump.

“The stakes are too high and our families have waited too long for any interference to derail this progress.”

Their appeal followed Trump’s remarks that a breakthrough in ceasefire negotiations was imminent, citing a 21-point plan he gave to Arab and Muslim leaders on the margins of the UN General Assembly last week.

The forum appears to double down on accusations it has made in the past against Netanyahu, blamed for “sabotaging” various ceasefire proposals during the two-year war that would have led to a release of their relatives.

After the Israeli army targeted Hamas leaders in Qatar this month, the forum said in a statement that “every time a deal approaches, Netanyahu sabotages it.”

The letter to Trump was published just hours before his meeting at the White House with Netanyahu, in which the US leader is expected to push an elusive Gaza peace plan that would see the release of the 47 hostages in the first two days of the ceasefire, according to media reports.

In its message to Trump, the forum wrote: “You and you alone have the strength to push this deal to the finish line, and we are so grateful to have you in our corner.”

However, Netanyahu has given little reason for optimism in recent days.

He vowed in a defiant UN address on Friday to “finish the job” against Hamas, and promised to block a Palestinian state that key Western nations recently recognised.

The Israeli premier also appears determined to pursue a military offensive in Gaza City from which hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee in recent weeks.

The hostages’ families asked Trump to pressure Netanyahu to halt the campaign.

“Your dual focus on ending the war and bringing all… hostages home stands in stark contrast to the expanded war that Israel is currently conducting,” it wrote.

“We want to thank you for boldly sticking to your conviction despite this contrast. We know this will be a focus of Monday’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Of the 251 hostages that Palestinian militant groups seized during their unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023, 47 remain in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli military says are dead.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally from official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 66,005 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to health ministry figures in the territory that the United Nations considers reliable.