The White House reportedly snubbed the families of American hostages after they asked for an invite to a Hanukkah reception, the father of a 19-year-old missing Israeli American told CNN.
Several families of the American hostages being held by Hamas were visiting Washington D.C. this week and reportedly asked the White House if they could attend its Monday Hanukkah Holiday Reception, Ruby Chen, the father of a 19-year-old Israeli military reservist who has been missing since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, told CNN. Despite requesting to attend, the families reportedly did not receive an invite to the event, Chen told CNN.
The event included about 800 guests, made up of Holocaust survivors, Jewish leaders and lawmakers, CNN reported.
During the Monday ceremony, Biden remarked that he is a “Zionist,” adding that one does not need to be Jewish to be a Zionist. The president also discussed the hostages being held by Hamas and vowed to continue getting humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians being held in Gaza.
“We’re not gonna stop until we get all of them home,” Biden said, referring to the hostages being held by Hamas.
President Joe Biden speaks at a Hanukkah reception in the East Room of the White House on December 11, 2023 in Washington, DC. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden host a reception to mark the Jewish holidays. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin – Pool/Getty Images)
During a seven day humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war, which the United States helped negotiate, more than 100 hostages were released from Hamas’ custody, CNN reported. While four Americans were released during the truce, nine Americans remain unaccounted for, the White House told CNN.
Israel identified 20 hostages the country believes to be dead on Sunday while more than 130 are estimated to still be in the terrorist organization’s hands, NBC reported. During the truce between Israel and Hamas, 240 Palestinian prisoners being held by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) were released.
Foreign policy experts and former government officials previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that Hamas could be holding onto additional American hostages in an effort to keep the Biden administration pushing for more humanitarian pauses in the fighting.
“Hamas clearly sees a strategic utility in delaying Israeli punishment for as long as possible,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “To that end, they are using hostages, particularly foreign and American hostages, as human shields to push for additional pauses in the conflict amid lopsided hostage deals.”
After this story was published, a White House official told CNN that Biden will meet with the families of the American hostages. During the meeting, the families are expected to encourage the administration along side the Israeli government to “work harder and more creatively” to rescue the American Hostages, CNN reported.