JUST IN: Families Of American Hostages Held In Gaza Hold Press Conference At White House

3 months ago

On Thursday, the family members of American hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas spoke to the press outside the White House.

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Transcript

00:00Well, thank you all for gathering.

00:03We met today six of the seven U.S. citizen families who have hostages still in the tunnels,

00:12the hell tunnels of Hamas.

00:15We met today at the invitation of President Biden.

00:19We met today with the president, members of his staff, and the prime minister of Israel,

00:24and a number of his senior advisors.

00:28We came today with a sense of urgency.

00:31As you know, as time goes forward, the likelihood of getting our hostages home, our loved ones

00:39home, alive and recovering the bodies of those who have already been murdered, becomes less

00:44and less likely.

00:45So as families, we came in really emphasizing to the leaders of the United States and of

00:52Israel a desire to get this deal done, this three-phase deal that the president announced

01:00a few weeks ago and has been on the negotiating table, in order to return all, now 115, of

01:07the Israeli hostages and to end the suffering of the people of Gaza, because the moment

01:12they come home, these 115, the killing ends, the madness ends.

01:17And so that is how we walked through the doors on the way in.

01:21What we found after asking a series of difficult questions and getting answers to all of them

01:28– unfortunately, we cannot share the content of those questions and answers – but what

01:34we did find by the end of the meeting, which was productive and honest, that we feel probably

01:43more optimistic than we have since the first round of releases in late November, early

01:49December, where a little over 100 of Israel's hostages were released.

01:55We got absolute commitment from the Biden administration and from Prime Minister Netanyahu

02:01that they understand the urgency of this moment now to waste no time and to complete this

02:08deal as it currently stands, with as little change as humanly possible within it.

02:16We are also very happy to hear from the President that Hamas now understands that the ball is

02:23in its court.

02:24World pressure is such that it has nowhere to hide anymore.

02:28Hamas could have ended this horror on October 8th by releasing all of the Israeli hostages.

02:34That of course has not happened.

02:36But no more excuses, no more time.

02:39Hamas, in order to free its own people from the horrors of war, must say yes now.

02:47Do you believe the deal is closer now, after talking to them, do you believe it's close

02:57to happen, to be achieved?

02:59They're definitely working on a proposal, it should be coming out soon.

03:04We believe that both parties understand the urgency and it's going to come out to the

03:08public and a proposal to Hamas very soon.

03:12Mary.

03:13Yesterday, during his address to Congress, the Prime Minister didn't actually mention

03:16it at all, the ceasefire deal.

03:18What did you make of that and are you confident that Netanyahu can bring your loved ones home?

03:23Do you trust him?

03:25This whole conversation, as Jonathan already said, this whole conversation was about the

03:33deal that was put on the table, the three-phase deal that the Prime Minister agreed to, and

03:40it was about the ways to which induce the negotiations or anything that needs to get

03:46done in order to get people out, the sense of urgency.

03:50So do you trust him?

03:52Did you all discuss today with President Biden the possibility of a separate deal to get

03:58American hostages out or are you confident that they are fully committed to getting this

04:03current deal done?

04:05The U.S. administration has been consistent, as have we, that the urgency is to get all

04:10of Israel's hostages home.

04:12Those who might still be alive, and we honestly don't know who might still be alive, as you

04:17know, the Red Cross or any other international agency has never been allowed by Hamas to

04:23visit with our hostages.

04:26That deal is not on the table, meaning solely the Americans.

04:32Everyone needs to come home.

04:34Everyone needs to come home.

04:36Sir?

04:37I would like to add to that.

04:39The shortest way to get Americans out is through that deal and to get everybody's out.

04:46Right here.

04:47Hi.

04:48Thank you for coming out.

04:49I appreciate it very much.

04:51With President Biden leaving in January, do you believe that impacts in any way the ability

04:56to free your family members?

04:59On the contrary, I actually think it allows the president to be laser focused on the things

05:08that are true priorities to him and saving human beings, cherished human beings, 115

05:16of them, eight of whom are U.S. citizens, is one paramount issue for him.

05:26And I think not having to worry about all the things surrounding a reelection allows

05:33him the freedom to focus on this, and we wish him Godspeed in that task.

05:39We saw a very committed president to get the hostages back, the Americans and the rest

05:46of the Israelis, now more than ever.

05:49I actually want to add one more point to that, which is we've got a rare moment now where

05:54the current president of the United States and anybody who might become president of

06:00the United States, both Vice President Harris and Donald Trump, are all aligned in saying

06:06this deal must get done now.

06:09So anybody on any side who makes the mistaken political calculus that there's benefit in

06:13waiting will find out that that logic is wrong.

06:17The deal must happen now.

06:19And one more question, if I may.

06:21Pope Francis reiterated his call today for an Olympic truce, that is for warring nations

06:26to stop fighting, at least for the period of the athletic competition.

06:29Does that give you any hope at all?

06:32I would say that we are all in favor of an Olympic truce.

06:35We support the Pope on that.

06:37Jeff.

06:38Thanks very much.

06:39And if I could ask you to give us your name before you speak as well.

06:44And what have you mentioned at the top that you're more optimistic about where things

06:48are going?

06:49The White House has been expressing that same optimism for a few weeks now.

06:53Without getting into what you can't tell us about the content of your questions and answers,

06:57can you explain why you're more optimistic now?

07:01My name is Jonathan Dekelchen.

07:04I'm the father of Sagi Dekelchen, 35-year-old father of three, who was kidnapped, taken hostage

07:11from Kibbutz Neroz.

07:13We still have 33 hostages in Gaza.

07:19Given what we've learned over the past few days in our meetings with administration officials

07:25and senior members of Congress and today at the meeting, it does seem like there is absolutely

07:33no daylight between the position of the U.S. government, U.S. Congress, and Israeli leadership.

07:42In addition to that, over the course of the last few months, with our encouragement, the

07:49world community, keeping in mind that there are hostages from over 20 countries that still

07:55remain in Gaza.

07:57And many, not all, many of those countries have stepped up with the leadership of the

08:01United States to impress upon Hamas the need to end this now.

08:07And so together with the additional military pressure that's been put on Hamas by the Israeli

08:14military and intelligence services and the, again, ironclad commitment that we got today

08:20from our prime minister and from President Biden, there is more reason today than in any

08:28time since the last round of hostage releases that something can happen and that all sides,

08:37that there is a place now to complete this three-phase deal.

08:45That's a bit above our pay grade, I'm afraid.

08:48But we did get a commitment from the president and from the prime minister that both teams

08:54will be working by the hour in the coming days to put out an adjusted proposal to Hamas.

09:02And they understood completely and are partnered with us around the urgency that the cycles

09:08of back and forth get narrower and narrower so that we can get to the finish line, again,

09:14for our loved ones, for Israel, and for the people of Gaza.

09:31Do you have a statement that he will be able to agree to the deal in his speech tomorrow

09:36after the meeting now?

09:38Have you changed your mind about him or does he still have something to prove?

09:43We are the parents of Omer Neutra, an American citizen, a New Yorker who went to Israel,

09:48enlisted and was kidnapped from his tank on October 7th.

09:52Yes, we were a bit skeptical because we heard the statements of the prime minister

10:01so far with very little information about the agreement.

10:05He only spoke about the efforts that are being made, but not about the agreement itself.

10:09At the meeting, we did hear that the agreement needs to be advanced and they are working on it.

10:13Therefore, we are now more optimistic and hope that in the coming days a proposal will be

10:19put forward to Hamas, hoping that Hamas will accept it and we will be able to move forward

10:23with a framework in which our children, our parents, will be able to go outside

10:31and silence will reach the entire region.

10:36Do you have any message for people who are protesting on both sides?

10:45Jonathan, what is it?

11:04There were a group of Palestinians that were outside today.

11:08And in the past years, different than today, there were a group of Israelis as well on both sides.

11:38Did you feel that Prime Minister Netanyahu had the same commitment and determination as President Biden?

12:08I am Liz Hersh-Naftali. I am the great-aunt of Abigail who was released back at the end of November.

12:13And I think the question is, where are we today? We are standing in front of the White House.

12:17It's a historical moment where the President of the United States, with the Prime Minister of Israel,

12:24invited, the President invited hostage families that they have worked with for 10 months

12:29to get their loved ones home.

12:31So the commitment is that we sat in a room with two men, two great leaders,

12:36that we need to be making the decision.

12:38And we know that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the person who needs to say yes.

12:42We know that he has a deep, long relationship with President Biden.

12:47And while they could not share details, what they could share was this relationship.

12:52Maybe sometimes it's rocky, but right now you see it's solid.

12:55And right now you see that these two men understand that there is 120 people that need to be released.

13:02And what we also understand is that the fighting needs to stop.

13:05So when you ask that question, think about where we are at this moment.

13:09And think about this one time where you have a President of the United States, Joe Biden,

13:15Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, coming together for a meeting and then inviting us

13:20and listening to us and sharing with us and committing to us the rapid return of our loved ones.

JUST IN: Families Of American Hostages Held In Gaza Hold Press Conference At White House

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