Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a 40-signature discussion in the Knesset that in the past, a senior defense official said "we need to get used to the idea that we won't return even one hostage," noting that he opposed this. Netanyahu added that "for me, each hostage is an entire world. I am working tirelessly and focused on the goal of returning all our hostages. According to information we have, there are 20 hostages who are definitely alive and up to 38 who are deceased." He criticized government opponents, saying "if we had listened to you, many of the hostages would still be in Hamas' dungeons."