2023-12-13 14:28:02
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will meet in the coming hours with relatives of eight unaccounted for Americans believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas during its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the White House said Wednesday.
The relatives of the eight will participate in the meeting in person or virtually, a senior government official said. The Democratic president had previously met with some family members virtually and spoken with others by phone. Biden was preparing to brief them on the government’s efforts to achieve the release of the American hostages.
“He will assure you that we do not lose sight of your loved ones, that we do not relent in efforts to bring them home,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on CNN in previewing Biden’s message to the families. He noted that, hour by hour, U.S. officials “try to get more information regarding them and seek an agreement to bring them back.”
Meanwhile, national security adviser Jake Sullivan will be in Israel on Thursday and Friday for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, members of his war cabinet, and President Isaac Herzog.
Eight Americans remain missing since the Hamas raid on Israeli towns, where the militia killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and took more than 240 hostages. Four Americans were freed as part of a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas brokered by Washington with help from Qatar and Egypt. An American woman who was due to be released under last month’s ceasefire remains missing, a fact that helped end the truce.
The White House has said that Hamas and other groups killed at least 31 Americans on October 7.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer will participate in the meeting with Biden, the White House official said.
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