9 days into the war: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with representatives of the families of the captured and missing today (Sunday) at 16:30. This marks his first meeting with the families since the beginning of the war.
As previously mentioned, last night, the official in charge of the captured and missing on behalf of the government, Brigadier General (res.) Gal Hirsch, confirmed that Netanyahu is expected to meet with representatives of the families of the captured and missing. He stated, "We are making extensive international diplomatic efforts to rally the nations of the world. This helps with the narrative, but it's mainly about obtaining information to assist in locating the missing and captured individuals." He further added, "Former Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen is enlisted and is providing significant assistance based on his 'known and unknown' capabilities. Prime Minister Netanyahu wants and intends to meet with representatives of the families of the missing individuals soon."
Hirsch added, "We are trying to build an address for the families of the missing. We have established an operations room with dozens of senior intelligence officers who have been trained for the issue of connecting with missions. The person in charge of the training is Varda Pomerantz, formerly the head of the Injured Soldiers' Division in the IDF, and a bereaved mother herself. Her son Daniel was killed in Shejaiya, in Operation Protective Edge. The teams come to each family personally to support them. In Bnei Brak, a center for families will be established, which will serve as a single station for all issues and will have direct interfaces with all government ministries and authorities."
Hirsch also mentioned that he has already had discussions with the families of Hadar Goldin, Oron Shaul, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham Al-Sayed, clarifying that he represents them as well. He stated, "We are only at the beginning of the war, but we are building a system and mechanism that can also serve the country in the future if necessary."