WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsNation) — President Joe Biden privately met on Wednesday with the families of Americans held hostage by Hamas, his first in-person meeting with the group.
There are eight remaining hostages with American citizenship believed to still be in captivity in Gaza — seven men and one woman — the White House estimates. Biden met with relatives from all eight of the families. The president previously held a virtual meeting with some relatives of American hostages shortly after Hamas took them during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
Those who participated in person at the White House included: Yael Alexander, Adi Alexander, Ruby Chen, Roy Chen, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Gillian Kaye, Liz Naftali, Ronen Neutra, Orna Neutra, Aviva Siegel, Elan Siegel, Shir Siegel and Hanna Siegel.
Three others — Rachel Goldberg, Iris Haggai and Jon Polin — joined by phone. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer were also in attendance.
Several family members who spoke to reporters after the meeting declined to share details of the discussion, but called it a “terrific meeting.”
“We could have no better friend, in Washington or in the White House, than President Biden himself and his administration,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of 35-year-old Israeli American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen.
Liz Naftali, the great-aunt of Abigail Edan, the freed 4-year-old hostage, said the families are hoping for a “Christmas miracle.”
“We are thankful to the president and to his team because we know that they are working 24 hours a day and they’re going to work through the holidays,” Naftali added. “And they are going to do everything they can to make sure that all of our loved ones, real people, come home to us.”
So far, four American hostages have been released by Hamas, two of whom were included in the weeklong November cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas. Throughout the temporary truce, Hamas released 110 hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
At a campaign fundraiser in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Biden pledged to “not stop until every hostage is returned home.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the president has been “personally engaged on this issue” and has held many calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with the “aim of securing the release of the Americans and all hostages held by Hamas.”
Biden’s meeting with the families of hostages comes as his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, plans to travel to Israel on Thursday and Friday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of his war cabinet and President Isaac Herzog to discuss the latest developments in Israel and Gaza.
