The families of the 59 remaining hostages Hamas has held since Oct. 7, 2023, are alarmed after President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a smaller number are believed to still be alive than previously reported.

Trump said Tuesday in the Oval Office that only 21 hostages are still alive and that “three have died,” a reference to the fact that the last estimate from the Israeli government was that 24 hostages were still alive. The president did not say which hostages were purportedly killed, raising concerns among all the families.

Recommended Stories

• WATCH LIVE: Conclave begins in the Vatican
• Cardinals enter Sistine Chapel for papal conclave under total digital lockdown
• Stephen Miller claims Canadian PM meeting resulted in 'concrete wins'

Many of the hostage families have expressed frustration with the Israeli government’s handling of the conflict and negotiations for hostages long before Trump’s remark.

“Every day is another message, different numbers of living and dead, and you don’t know what’s going on with your son,” Danny Miran, father of hostage Omri Miran, told public broadcaster Kan. “It messes with your head. Now we are resuming a war that can wind up harming the hostages. This isn’t a stable way to live.”

Alon Nimrodi, father of hostage Tamir Nimrodi, told Army Radio, “What does Trump know that we do not? This is hard to see and hear, I’m losing sleep over it, it’s heartbreaking.”

Gal Hirsch, the Israeli government’s point person on the hostages, maintained that by their count, 24 hostages are still believed to be alive, and 35 of them have been confirmed to have been killed while being held in Gaza.

“The number of living hostages, as is known to the families, provided to them by official sources, is 24,” the Hostage Families Forum said in a statement. “We demand again from Israel — if there is new intelligence being kept from us, pass it to us immediately.”

There is one American, Edan Alexander, believed to be alive, though that is now unclear given the president’s remarks. Trump mentioned him during an event in the Rose Garden last week.

“We don’t know how he’s doing, really,” Trump said about him. “We think we know, and hopefully positive. Two months ago, we were pretty sure. It looked like he was getting out, but they’ve toughened up a little bit. And it’s a terrible thing. I know what you’re going through.”

The president also indicated during those remarks last week that some hostages may have been killed in recent weeks.

“Out of 59, you had 24 that were living, and now I understand that it’s not even that number,” he said.

A MISSILE FROM YEMEN HALTS FLIGHTS IN ISRAEL HOURS BEFORE TOP OFFICIALS VOTE ON PLAN FOR GAZA WAR

Israel is preparing to restart a military operation in Gaza against Hamas that could include the reoccupation of the enclave, though it could be a maneuver to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages.

The war, which has gone on for about a year and a half, has decimated Gaza and killed tens of thousands of people, civilians and combatants alike. Senior Trump administration officials have said the destruction has largely made Gaza uninhabitable and warned that reconstruction of the enclave could take more than a decade.