More than 100 days have passed since Hamas attacked southern Israel and took approximately 200 hostages captive. Now, the families of these victims are calling on the U.S. and Israeli governments to step up efforts to bring them home.
A bipartisan group of senators led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-Md.) and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Wednesday that loved ones are still being held hostage. He held an emotional press conference with his five family members. Hamas.
“I've talked with several families about new strategies that we can implement, and I'm committed to implementing them,” Schumer said Wednesday. “As with now, there are always new initiatives being taken. And we are making slow, slow, slow but important progress. It's not like that progress isn't fast enough. And Hamas I want to be clear about whether there was any fundamental effort. If it was humanity, they would have already released the hostages.”
Schumer and other senators did not immediately elaborate on what those new strategies or initiatives would entail.
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More than 100 days after the Hamas attack, families of the hostages called for increased U.S. and Israeli efforts, and a bipartisan group of senators joined them in an emotional press conference. (Getty Images)
Hamas still holds 130 of the 240 hostages, including six Americans, but their status is unclear. Families mourned Wednesday, marking the 103rd day since the attack.
John Pollin, a family member of one of the victims, told a news conference that his son Hersh was celebrating his 23rd birthday at a music festival when Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1,000 people. Harsh is one of the victims currently being held hostage.
“We know from eyewitness accounts and subsequent video footage that he had his left arm, his dominant arm, blown off before being loaded into a Hamas pickup truck,” Pollin told reporters. “And as Americans, we expect that the United States, the greatest superpower in the history of the world, will do everything in its power to secure the release of the hostages. This requires all partners in the region to make this a top priority.” It includes making things a matter of concern.”
Adi Marciano's daughter was captured and killed by Hamas terrorists. While she called for further action to free the remaining victims, she said a “black cloud” was gathering.
“Let's do everything we can to bring our loved ones home,” she said.
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An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires artillery shells into the Gaza Strip from southern Israel at a position near the Israel-Gaza border on November 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Yaden Gonen's 23-year-old sister, Romi, was also kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7th.
“You are members of the most powerful country in the world, pioneers of democracy, and defenders of civil and human rights,” Gonen said. “Please, with great power comes great responsibility. Please do everything in your power to bring the hostages back to where they belong. This is a violation of international law and fundamental human rights.”
Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska) said “Hamas must surrender” and that he and his colleagues would continue “to work towards the release of the hostages.” Sen. Susan Collins (R-I.A.), Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D.Y.), and Majority Whip Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). was also in attendance.
Ernst called on the Biden administration to do more to free the hostages. Some Israeli families have accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home.
At the press conference, Mr. Cardin stressed that lawmakers will do everything possible to ensure the safe return of the victims.
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of hostage Edan Alexander during a World Day of Unity and Prayer with the Israeli Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of those captured by Palestinian Hamas militants in the October 7 attack. A woman holding a statue. (Yuri Cortes/AFP via Getty Images)
He also criticized the Qatari government for not doing more to advance the initiative.
“They have an opportunity that we don't have,” Cardin said. “They weren't as effective as I had hoped.”
Israel's Kibbutz Beeri president confirmed on Tuesday that two Hamas-detained residents, Yossi Shalabi, 53, and Itai Svirski, 38, were killed. The announcement followed the release of a new Hamas video, which also features a third hostage, Noa Al-Ghamani, 26, on the 100th day of the October 7 massacre.
Families present at Wednesday's press conference lamented that unless swift action is taken to free the prisoners, their loved ones will inevitably be killed.
“Every day that Prime Minister Netanyahu and his war cabinet fail to negotiate a deal to release all the hostages in Gaza is a failure,” said Riz Natfari, a relative of 4-year-old Abigal Edan, who was the first to be rescued. . American hostages freed by Hamas.
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An agreement to suspend the war between Israel and Hamas was signed in November, resulting in the release of about 100 hostages and 180 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. However, the agreement was short-lived as Hamas violated the moratorium and continued to hold more than 100 victims.
