Families of hostages furious after meeting with Netanyahu

(Patria) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with families of returned hostages in a meeting that some of those present described as loud and angry, Reuters reported.

The meeting was held as fighting resumed in the Gaza Strip after a seven-day pause during which more than 100 hostages returned from the enclave. There are still 138 hostages in the Gaza Strip.

"I heard stories that broke my heart, I heard about thirst and hunger, about physical and psychological abuse," Netanyahu said at a press conference.

"I heard, and you have heard, about sexual assault and cases of brutal rape unlike anything else," he added.

Several relatives who attended the meeting were bitterly critical of the government.

Dani Miran, whose son Omri was taken hostage by Hamas armed attackers on October 7 along with about 240 other Israelis and foreigners, said he felt his intelligence was insulted at the meeting and that he walked out in the middle of it.

"I will not go into details about what was discussed at the meeting, but this whole performance was ugly, insulting, disorderly," he said, adding that the government had made a "farce" of this issue.

"They say 'we did this, we did that.' (Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya) Sinwar is the one who brought our people back, not them. It angers me that they say they dictated things. They didn't dictate a single move."

The meeting was intended as a forum for freed hostages to tell ministers about their experience in captivity. The group representing the families of the hostages released a series of anonymous quotes it says are taken from comments by some of the former hostages at the meeting.

The quotes about mistreatment of prisoners by Hamas were overshadowed by the emotions of families worried about the fate of relatives still being held in captivity.

"It was a very turbulent meeting, many were shouting," said Jennifer Master, whose partner Andrey is a hostage.