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The prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, sent an official letter to Pope Francis in which she asked for his help in efforts to return the hostages held in Gaza. In her letter, Netanyahu wrote: "Hamas is still holding 129 men, women and children hostage. Many of them are wounded and sick. They suffer from hunger, and some are denied the basic medicines they need to survive. Your Holiness, I ask for your personal intervention in this matter. Please use your influence to demand the unconditional release of all the hostages without delay. Please also call on the Red Cross to demand to visit all the hostages at once and deliver them vital medicine. So far the Red Cross has failed to insist on these deliverables. Your intervention could tilt the balance and save precious lives. (Itamar Eichner)