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Aunt of former Hamas hostage: ‘We’d love a Christmas miracle’

“We’re going to keep the private conversations private,” a father of a hostage still held in Gaza said, after meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.

Hostages family friends
In Tel Aviv, relatives and friends of Israelis being held captive in the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists hold photos of their loved ones, Dec. 13, 2023. Photo by Miriam Alster/Flash90.

Several relatives of U.S. citizens being held hostage in the Gaza Strip who met with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday subsequently spoke with reporters for a little more than five minutes.

The pool report, paraphrasing Jonathan Dekel-Chen, said it was a “terrific meeting.”

“He said the families feel they have no better friend than Biden,” according to the report, quoting Dekel-Chen.

“We’re going to keep the private conversations private,” said Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35, is being held hostage in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organization that rules the Strip.

“We’d love a Christmas miracle,” said Liz Naftali, whose niece, Abigail Edan, was released in late November during the weeklong pause in Israel’s military operation to retrieve its civilians and rid Gaza of Hamas. “We know they are working 24 hours a day.”

“This political environment could discourage congressional committee staff and federal agency personnel from pursuing investigations or enforcement actions involving antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall of the Brandeis Center told JNS.
The Nachala Movement says 1,500 families are waiting to move into the Strip, as supporters call for the renewal of communities dismantled in 2005.
“Parents send their children to school to learn reading, writing and math, not to be taught to hate Israel or embrace radical political causes,” stated Rep. Tim Walberg, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee.
The anti-Israel Democrat led the former Republican congressman in the Michigan Senate race by two points, well within the margin of error.