"A little late ..."

Netanyahu wants to meet families of dead hostages

Many Israelis are angry with Netanyahu.(Bild: AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has invited the families of dead Hamas hostages to a meeting. However, the proposed meeting triggers mixed feelings among the bereaved.

"I was asked to meet with the head of government," said Sharon Sharabi, whose brothers Yossi and Eli died while being held hostage, on Tuesday. He would accept the invitation. Another relative, who wished to remain anonymous, told the AFP news agency that she would not go. "It occurred to him a little late to invite us."

Meeting planned for Thursday
According to the families, Netanyahu will receive a group of relatives on Thursday and another on Sunday. Some relatives had accused him of showing too little sympathy for the families of the dead hostages. Every week, thousands of people in Israel demonstrate against Netanyahu and demand an agreement with the radical Islamic group Hamas to release the hostages.

In their brutal attack on Israel on October 7, the Islamists of Hamas and the Palestinian Jihad killed 1194 people and took 251 hostages in the Gaza Strip, including women and children, according to Israeli figures. Some of them have since been released, others freed. 116 hostages are still being held by Hamas and other Palestinian groups. 41 of them are presumed dead.