Biden meets with relatives of Americans held hostage by Hamas
World
Biden meets with relatives of Americans held hostage by Hamas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden met with family members of Americans held hostage by Hamas on Wednesday as Israel intensifies its military campaign in Gaza after a pause in fighting during which more than 100 hostages were released.
Relatives of the Americans who are deemed unaccounted for after the Palestinian militant group's deadly Oct 7 attack on Israel attended the gathering at the White House, either in person or by phone.
Hamas gunmen took 240 people hostage when they burst through the border with Israel and killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.
A seven-day truce saw more than 100 hostages released, including four Americans. The rest are still being held incommunicado as Israel bombards Gaza in an effort to destroy its Hamas rulers and fighters. More than 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
Biden has been personally engaged on the hostage issue and has spoken numerous times with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the emir of Qatar on how to secure their release, the administration official said.
Biden previously held a virtual meeting with hostages' families on Oct 13.
His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has met with the families numerous times, the official said, and was expected to discuss the hostages during his trip to Israel this week.
"We met today with President Biden and then people from the administration. It was a terrific meeting, conversation," one of the family members, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, said afterwards.
"I think we all came away feeling that as families of hostages of American Israelis ... that we could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than President Biden," he added.
Two Americans, Natalie and Judith Raanan, became the first hostages to be released on Oct 20.
During a subsequent pause in Israel's military operation, a four-year-old American girl, Abigail Edan, was among 17 hostages freed by Hamas on Nov. 26. A fourth American, Liat Beinin, was among 16 released on Nov 29, the final day of a truce in the Gaza war.
Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages under a truce agreement reached with Hamas.
