Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Orna Neutra (left) and Ronen Neutra (second from left), parents of Omer Neutra, and other families of Americans being held hostage by Hamas stand outside the White House after a meeting with administration officials on Nov. 12, 2024
(Israel Hayom) — President Joe Biden met on Thursday with families of American Israelis held hostage by the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip, and “reaffirmed the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to getting the hostages home to their loved ones and families,” the White House announced.
“The administration has worked tirelessly to get a deal done as soon as possible to bring the hostages home, and the president also assured the families those efforts will continue,” the statement continued.
Biden had raised the hostage crisis during a discussion with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday.
In another meeting, Biden and President Isaac Herzog addressed various matters concerning Israel, the hostage situation and Israel’s ongoing war against terrorist organizations.
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, said on Wednesday that the Biden administration is ready to work with Trump’s incoming foreign-policy team on securing the release of the hostages Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip.
“Yes, of course, we’re prepared to work with the incoming team, in common cause, on a bipartisan basis, to do everything in our collective American power to secure the release of the hostages, both living and deceased,” Sullivan said.
In July, Biden met with former Israeli-American Hamas hostage Liat Beinin Atzili, who was released in November 2023 as part of a ceasefire agreement between Jerusalem and Hamas.
Her husband, Aviv, a member of Kibbutz Nir Oz’s emergency response team, was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while fending off terrorists.
In April, Biden hosted in the Oval Office freed Israeli child hostage Abigail Edan, who was released from Gaza as part of the same ceasefire deal.
