A group of 68 Washington-area rabbis called on Tuesday for the “accelerated return” of hostages whom Hamas holds in Gaza.
The faith leaders, ranging in denomination from Orthodox to Reform and unaffiliated, also advocated for the implementation of the next phase of the ceasefire deal to secure the return of the remaining, living hostages, including Israeli soldiers.
“On Feb. 8, we saw the emaciated and gaunt bodies of three returning hostages,” the rabbis wrote. “It is clear that the lives of the remaining hostages are hanging in the balance.”
“We urge every member of our community to advocate for and demand the accelerated return of all the hostages,” the group added. “We are going public with this statement so that our demand can be heard by the leaders in our city and beyond.”
Hamas agreed on Tuesday to double the number of living hostages it will release on Saturday from three to six, and the terror group has also said that it will release the bodies of four dead hostages on Thursday, including the corpses of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced that talks to start phase two of the ceasefire-for-hostages deal would begin next week.
Under the terms negotiated by the Biden administration, phase two of the deal would see a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in exchange for the release of all the remaining, living hostages. Phase two is open-ended, and negotiations might proceed indefinitely.
Polling suggests that a significant majority of the Israeli public supports negotiating a phase two deal, but some members of the governing coalition have said that they are opposed to further exchanges with Hamas.
U.S. President Donald Trump has also expressed frustration with the pace of the exchanges, saying on Feb. 10 that he would prefer that Hamas release all of the hostages in one go.
In their open letter, the rabbis asked those in positions of power not to obstruct the upcoming negotiations.
“We also ask that all those involved in the negotiations do everything in their power to work for, and refrain from doing anything that might impede, the immediate release of the hostages,” they wrote. “The hostage families need the deal to be implemented fully now so that their family members can begin healing.”
