WASHINGTON, DC: US President Joe Biden will meet family members of American hostages held by Hamas at the White House on Wednesday, an administration official confirmed to the New York Post.
The meeting will mark the first known in-person sit-down between the US President and families whose relatives were kidnapped by the Hamas during its October 7 attack on Israel.
Biden has talked to some of the hostages’ family members via Zoom and other White House officials—most notably national security adviser Jake Sullivan–have been in contact with them as well, as per New York Post.
This comes after several family members of US citizens believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas, weren’t invited to the Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday night, as per the father of a 19-year-old missing Israeli American, CNN had reported.
The citizens had reportedly asked to attend the Hanukkah reception.
Ruby Chen, whose son Itay is a reservist missing since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, said a number of the families of American hostages were in Washington, DC, this week and had reached out to the White House asking to attend the reception but were not invited.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment.
The reception was held by US President Biden and first lady Jill Biden to celebrate the fifth night of Hanukkah. It featured some 800 guests, according to the White House, including Holocaust survivors, lawmakers and various Jewish leaders.
At the event, Biden talked about the work his administration has been doing to try to secure the release of the remaining hostages and get humanitarian aid into Gaza. He said he had spent “probably up to 20 hours” working with Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian counterparts on both fronts.
“There’s a whole range of things going on now that are really very, very difficult,” Biden said. “We’ve gotten more than 100 hostages out and we’re not going to stop till we get every one of them home.”
As per the White House, there are still seven American men and one woman unaccounted for since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. Four Americans–a 4-year-old girl and three women–have been released.
After formal hostage negotiations that had been taking place in Doha, Qatar, fell apart, the Biden administration continues to be in close contact with their Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian counterparts about ways to get more hostages out, according to officials, as per CNN.
Since the beginning of the Israel Hamas war, families of the missing Americans have had opportunities to speak or meet with the president, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Vice President Kamala Harris.
But as CNN had previously reported, the seeming lack of progress on this front is fueling the families’ anxiety. Some of the families have called on the White House to consider making a side deal with Hamas that focuses on just the American hostages and have even floated the idea of cutting the Israeli government out of initial negotiations altogether.
Multiple families told CNN that while they felt supported by the Biden administration’s outreach and support so far, the Israeli government has, in stark contrast, been minimally engaged. (ANI)