The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a body made up of relatives of Israeli captives in Gaza, has accused Israel’s government of “abandoning” them, saying officials are more invested in a drawn-out conflict than in bringing home their loved ones, Al Jazeera reports.

“The captives, and the entire State of Israel, have been taken hostage by those who choose political interests over their national duties,” the group said in a statement published in The Times of Israel.

The group said the government has neglected “a fundamental moral principle according to which Israel will never leave anyone behind, and prefer to continue the fighting over achieving the main goal of freeing the hostages”.

The statement comes after a fraught meeting between the captives’ families and Israeli officials on Thursday during which Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said the government would not end its offensive on Gaza in return for securing the release of all the captives.

Hanegbi also lashed out at a family member of a captive after she criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying she has “no place to hate and hurt like that”, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.