Families of US citizens held by Hamas pin hopes on Netanyahu’s address to Congress
JERUSALEM – With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to address both houses of Congress on Wednesday, families of U.S. citizens held hostage by the Hamas terror group in Gaza for some 292 days expressed hope that he will use the high-profile platform to finally announce a cease-fire deal that will release them.
Ahead of his flight to Washington, D.C., Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying that Israel would return to the negotiating table this week in the hopes of securing a deal with the U.S.-designated terror group to release hostages in exchange for a cease-fire of the nine-month-old war that has killed thousands on both sides.
Eight U.S. citizens have been held by Hamas since Oct. 7, when hundreds of its elite Nukhba terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, brutally attacking army bases, civilian communities and a massive music festival taking place near the border. Some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were murdered in the attack, with an estimated 250 individuals taken captive by the Palestinian terror group.
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While a weeklong cease-fire last November secured the release of more than 100 of the hostages, around 120 people remain in captivity, including eight U.S. citizens: California-born Hersch Goldberg-Polin, 23, who moved to Israel with his family, was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival. Sagui Dekel Chen, 35, who grew up in New Jersey, and Keith Siegel, 64, from North Carolina, were both taken from their homes in kibbutz communities near the Gaza border. While Eden Alexander, 19, from Tenafly, New Jersey, and Omer Neutra from Long Island, New York – both serving in the Israel Defense Forces – were taken from their military bases.
In April, Hamas released video recordings of both Goldberg-Polin, who is known to have had his arm blown off during the Oct. 7 attack, and from Keith Siegel, giving hope to their families that they are still alive despite the longevity of their captivity.
Three other U.S. citizens – Judy Weinstein and her husband, Gad Haggai, and 19-year-old Itay Chen – are believed to have been murdered in captivity by Hamas, who are still holding onto their bodies. An additional 44 hostages have also been declared dead by the Israeli military.
Last week, Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of Omer Neutra, spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, calling on U.S. and Israeli leaders to strike a deal to release all the hostages.
"This was not merely an attack on Israel; this was and remains an attack on Americans," Ronen Neutra said, highlighting that 45 of the 1,200 people murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7 were Americans.
On Monday, not long after he touched down in Washington, Netanyahu agreed to meet with representatives of the eight families, according to a readout. The families told the prime minister that their loved ones cannot wait any longer and that he must close the deal now.
They also called on him to address the plight of the eight American hostages when he speaks to Congress on Wednesday.
"The families told Netanyahu in no uncertain terms that they expect him to announce this week that he has finalized the deal to bring their family members home," a statement from the meeting read. "Anything less, they said, would constitute an abject failure of his trip to Washington."
Also on Monday, the families of U.S. hostages met with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, who said there is a solid deal on the table and that it would just take "political determination and cooperation from both sides" to secure it.
Netanyahu – who will also meet with President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump during his trip – also expressed hope that a deal could be achieved during a meeting with 13 additional hostage relatives, who traveled with him from Israel.
In that meeting, he said that he was "determined to return them all" and that "the conditions for returning them are becoming ripe, for the simple reason that we are putting very strong pressure on Hamas."
Netanyahu also said that his visit to the U.S. and the chance to address lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and in both houses would afford him "the opportunity to bring before the representatives of the American people, and the American people themselves the importance of their support for our efforts, with them, to bring about the release of all of the hostages, the living and the deceased."