Families of the seven American citizens who are still hostage in Gaza — four still thought to be alive — used the Thanksgiving holiday to urge the White House, and President-elect Donald Trump, to bring their loved ones home.
There are still 101 hostages overall, as many as a third of them dead. Families of the hostages blocked access to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in the Knesset, or parliament, on Wednesday, demanding that he use the new Lebanon ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah as a platform to demand a deal with Hamas in Gaza.
President Joe Biden said after the ceasefire took effect Wednesday that the U.S. would redouble its efforts at a hostae deal with Hamas.
During the presidential campaign, Trump was more blunt, warning those around the world who were holding U.S. hostages: “[W]e want our hostages back—and they better be back before I assume office, or you will be paying a very big price.”
One of the best-known American hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was born in the U.S. but later moved to Israel as a child with his parents, was executed by Hamas in August. His fate has increased the desperation of the hostage familes.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.