Elizabeth Frantz/Pool/Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks during a Hanukkah reception at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 11, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/Pool
Washington
CNN
—
President Joe Biden on Wednesday will meet with families of American hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel, a White House official told CNN.
The meeting will take place at the White House. A number of families of hostages are in Washington, DC this week to make a personal case for the Biden administration and Israeli government to work harder and more creatively for their loved ones’ release.
There are still seven American men and one woman missing since the war began, according to the White House. Four Americans – a 4-year-old girl and three women – have been released so far. Biden previously met over Zoom with several relatives about one week after the attack.
Since then, there has been regular outreach from the White House and the office of Biden’s hostage envoy, Roger Carstens, according to the families. They contrasted that to what they’ve described as minimal support received from the Israeli government.
But after watching a separate deal reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin for several Israeli-Russian hostages, the families have wondered whether the Biden administration could be making a stronger push.
“President Putin kind of opened our eyes that there is the ability to do a separate deal on a specific nationality,” Ruby Chen, whose 19-year-old reservist son Itay has been missing since October 7, previously told CNN. “So that precedent is something that I think is logical to suggest or to consider.”
Several family members had asked to attend a Hanukkah reception held at the White House on Monday, but did not receive an invite. But Biden referenced the hostages while speaking at the reception, vowing his administration was “not going to stop ‘til we get every one of them home.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting