US President Joe Biden met yesterday with the families of some US citizens still missing and allegedly taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7th attack on Israel, the White House said.
Thirteen family members attended the meeting in person at the White House (North American presidency), while three others participated in the conversation with the President and his advisors over the phone, according to the White House.
Joe Biden had already met virtually with some family members and spoken to others by phone.
The Democratic leader is expected to provide an update on US efforts to secure the release of Hamas detainees.
There remain eight Americans held hostage in Gaza, according to John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council.
“The President will guarantee that we will not lose sight of his family, we will not stop trying to take them home”, stressed John Kirby in statements to CNN, previewing what would be Biden’s message to families.
Kirby emphasized that US authorities are “trying to get more information and come to an agreement so they can get them back home.”
Biden’s meeting with the families of the hostages comes as his National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, prepares to travel to Israel, to meet, this Thursday, with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with members of the war cabinet and the country’s President, Isaac Herzog.
Eight US citizens remain missing following Hamas’ surprise air, sea and land incursion into Israeli cities, where the group killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 people hostage.
The White House said at least 31 Americans were killed by Hamas and other groups on October 7.
Four Americans were released as part of a Washington-brokered ceasefire in Israel’s war once morest Hamas in Gaza, with help from Qatar and Egypt.
An American woman should have been released by Hamas under the terms of last month’s ceasefire, but remains missing, a situation that contributed to the end of the temporary pause in fighting.
