Nearly 600 relatives of 81 hostages ask Biden to press PM for deal to free them
Families send letter to US president expressing frustration with government’s ‘lack of commitment’ to sealing agreement, say those held in Gaza enduring ‘unimaginable hardship’
Nearly 600 relatives of 81 Israeli hostages held in Gaza have signed a letter to US President Joe Biden expressing their frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of ongoing hostage negotiations, urging him to press the Israeli premier and all other parties to reach an agreement.
“We are reaching out to you because we are increasingly frustrated and worried about the lack of ongoing communication and commitment from the Israeli Prime Minister and the War Cabinet to the hostage release cause,” the relatives stated in the letter, the first time a large group of hostage families have sent a letter to Biden.
The letter, which was coordinated by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, came as Mossad chief David Barnea traveled to Doha to meet CIA director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Egypt’s intelligence head Abbas Kamel to discuss a potential truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.
The truce talks are centered on a proposed agreement for a six-week ceasefire, vastly more aid entering Gaza and the initial release of about 40 female, elderly and wounded hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
“We encourage you to use the means available to you, to press and convince all parties, including the Israeli prime minister, to agree to the deal that you assess is reasonable,” the families wrote to the US president.
“We stand ready to work closely with your administration to mobilize the Israeli people and to articulate to the American people and their elected officials the need to support the current deal. We believe that the hostage families could play an important role in garnering public support to make the deal possible.”
The letter expressed “appreciation” for US efforts in securing a weeklong truce in late November, during which some of the hostages taken on October 7 were released from Hamas captivity, while pointing to the “unimaginable hardship” being endured by the hostages still in Gaza.
“They are suffering physical, emotional and sexual abuse, hunger, and an immediate risk to their lives. They are dying with every passing hour and day,” the letter said.
The hostages were taken on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping another 253, mostly civilians, many amid horrific acts of brutality and sexual violence.
Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a wide-scale offensive in Gaza, aimed at destroying the terror group’s military and governance capabilities and returning the hostages.
The families’ letter also came as US Secretary Antony Blinken wrapped up his sixth trip to the region since October 7, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to secure a truce agreement.
It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that.
Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military. The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 33 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza. One more person is listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
