Israel has said 24 hostages are alive in Gaza – after Donald Trump said there were 21.

The US president told reporters on Tuesday that three more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza had died – alarming their families.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for hostage affairs, said the Palestinian militant group was holding 59 hostages, of whom 24 were alive and 35 dead – figures unchanged from before Mr Trump’s comments.

He said 54 of the 59 were Israeli citizens and five of them were foreign nationals, Sky News reports.

“All the families of the hostages are being kept up to date with the information we have about their loved ones,” he said.
The group representing the families of the hostages had urged the Israeli government to share any new information with them immediately after Mr. Trump’s comments.

It argues that Israel must stop the fighting and negotiate the release of the remaining hostages.

“This is the most urgent and important national mission.”

Most of the hostages returned alive to Israel so far have been released as part of agreements with Hamas during two temporary ceasefires in late 2023 and early 2025.

The most recent ceasefire that saw a pause in fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners “broken down” in March.

Hamas took 251 hostages in its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which it killed 1,200 people.

And Israel has responded with an air and ground offensive in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says more than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war. Its figures do not distinguish between civilians and fighters.