President Joe Biden on Dec. 13 invited family members of Americans held hostage by Hamas to the White House for the first time since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
The families had a private meeting with the president and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“It was a terrific, terrific meeting and conversation,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of 35-year-old hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters.
He said the families of eight American hostages left with the impression that “we could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden himself and his administration.”
Nearly 240 people had been taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas during its deadly cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
So far, more than 100 hostages, including four U.S. citizens, have been released during a week-long truce in November. Four-year-old Abigail Edan, whose parents were killed by Hamas, was among the American hostages released on Nov. 26.
The family members said the meeting with the president was private, declining to comment on whether they heard anything new about their loved ones’ conditions or whether they would be released soon.
Mr. Dekel-Chen said that within the few days following the Hamas attack, U.S. government officials and Mr. Blinken himself began contacting the families. Since then, the families have had “frequent and very transparent” communication with administration officials.
Liz Naftali, the great-aunt of Abigail Edan, who attended the White House meeting, said the families are grateful to the president and his team, as they’re working 24 hours per day and will continue to work during the holidays to ensure that all of their family members return home.
She said she hoped the remaining hostages would be freed soon, just like her niece Abigail.
“What I can tell you is that Abigail is a miracle. She is a light in this very dark time,” she said.
The administration has come under fire from progressives who have called for a complete ceasefire. The administration has rejected those calls but has successfully pushed for a temporary truce that resulted in Hamas releasing female and child hostages in exchange for Israel handing over Palestinian prisoners in November.
“As the President has said himself, we will not stop until we bring [home] all Americans being held hostage,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press briefing on Dec. 13.
A ceasefire with a terrorist organization such as Hamas isn’t conceivable, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“As the President has said, Hamas could release the hostages today. They could surrender all those responsible for the Oct. 7 attacks and lay down their arms. The war would stop immediately,” he said during the White House press briefing on Dec. 13.
Hamas on Dec. 10 threatened to kill all the remaining hostages if its demands for more Gaza aid and prisoner exchanges are not met after negotiations for temporary pauses in fighting fell apart in early December.
Israel said that 20 of the 137 hostages still held by Hamas have died in captivity.
