The Israeli government said Saturday that it would not negotiate with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas over the release of between 100 and 200 Israeli and international hostages, because it was destroying the organization and not trying to save it.

Tzachi Hanegbi, the head of Israel’s National Security Council, said that the days of negotiating for hostages were over. While Israel was trying to rescue the hostages, it would not hostage prisoner exchanges or stop its military operation in Gaza.

Hanegbi’s remarks angered the families of Israeli hostages, who are already staging protests to demand that the government do everything possible, including negotiating, to secure the release of their loved ones.