U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Monday that he is working to secure the release of the hostages in Gaza, who number 100 according to the latest Israeli estimates. Thirty-six have been declared dead.
“We are trying to help very strongly in getting the hostages back,” Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
Last week, Trump met with former hostage Judith Raanan at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, she was the first female hostage to be released from the Gaza Strip.
Raanan, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen based in the Chicago area, gave Trump a drawing she had made and described the trauma of her captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a “very friendly, warm and important” phone call with Trump on the need to complete Jerusalem’s victory over Iranian-backed terror proxies and free the hostages held by Hamas, the Israeli leader said on Sunday.