The headquarters of families of hostages held in Gaza responded to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that "we want to return 59 hostages but victory over our enemies is the supreme war objective." In response, they stated: "Mr. Prime Minister, returning the hostages is not 'less' important - it is the supreme objective that should guide Israel's government." They further wrote that "the hostages' families are concerned: Netanyahu is aligning with Smotrich, contrary to the overwhelming majority of Israeli public who want all hostages returned before anything else. Today too, we will remember and remind - there is no complete independence for the State of Israel and the Israeli people without the return of our brothers and sisters."