Opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the statement by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who claimed that "we need to define the hostages as prisoners and deal with them only at the end of the war." According to Lapid, "after suggesting dropping an atomic bomb on Gaza and erasing Gaza, now Amichai Eliyahu proposes abandoning the hostages to their deaths." He added: "This is a walking damage - to security, international relations and the mutual responsibility of the people of Israel. If he is not fired today, then the Israeli government admits that it has abandoned the hostages."