(JNSIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged discretion on Wednesday about ongoing hostage negotiations with Hamas and told the families of the 136 hostages in Gaza that the government is “truly committed” to bringing them all home.

“We are making every effort,” Netanyahu told representatives of 18 families, during a meeting at his office in Jerusalem. “The more public this effort is, the more distant it is. The more discreet it is, the greater are its chances for success.”

The premier told the families that Israel is committed “in every sense of the word.”

“This is not just lip service,” he said. “While it is too early to say how it will happen, the effort is being made at this time, at this very moment.”

According to official figures, 136 hostages remain in Gaza, although dozens are believed to be dead. Hamas kidnapped an estimated 240 people when it invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7. Its terrorist operatives, along with some Gaza residents, murdered 1,200 people, overwhelmingly civilians, that day, and wounded thousands.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Israel agreed to a framework for a renewed hostages-for-ceasefire deal. Hamas was considering the offer, per the Post, which cited officials familiar with the negotiations.

All civilians would reportedly be released over an initial six-week period, with soldiers and bodies of dead hostages returned in subsequent stages.

Israel would free three Palestinian terrorists from prison for every hostage. The agreement would also reportedly include “a temporary repositioning of Israeli troops away from high-population areas of Gaza.”

Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday not to free large numbers of Palestinian terrorists or withdraw Israel Defense Forces troops from Gaza as part of a deal with Hamas.

Per a recent Channel 12 survey, 50% of Israelis oppose a hostage agreement that would see an extended pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian terrorists.