President Joe Biden on Thursday joined the leaders of 17 other countries in calling on Hamas to release all hostages held in Gaza.
All countries have citizens held hostage by Hamas. In addition to demanding his release, the leaders are calling for an “immediate and prolonged ceasefire.”
“We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas and Gaza for more than 200 days,” the leaders say. ‘They include our citizens. The fate of the hostages and civilians in Gaza, who are protected by international law, is a matter of international concern.’
“We emphasize that the agreement on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, which would facilitate an increase in the necessary additional humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza and lead to a credible end to hostilities”.
As of early April, 133 hostages remained captive in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian residents in Gaza examine the consequences of an Israeli attack
The statement is part of a pressure campaign to get both sides to sign a ceasefire as the war in Gaza has dragged on for nearly seven months and ceasefire negotiations have stalled.
In November, after a week-long ceasefire, more than 100 hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. Talks have been frozen since then.
Both Israel and Hamas have rejected ceasefire efforts, insisting that their version of victory is within reach.
A senior administration official, briefing reporters Thursday morning, said releasing the hostages means “this crisis will end.” It’s just a very clear path.”
“There is a very progressive agreement on the table,” the official said. “I think it is the road map to the end of the crisis, and all Hamas needs to do is release him as a vulnerable category of hostages and we would be moving forward.”
Hamas says it will hold the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent ceasefire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including high-ranking militants.
President Joe Biden joined 17 other world leaders in demanding the release of the hostages.
The leaders’ statement comes after Hamas released a video probing the life of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, nearly seven months after he was kidnapped following the brutal Oct. 7 invasion.
The 24-year-old, born in California in March 2000, who was removed from the Nova Festival on October 7, was seen in a video released today by Hamas blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for leaving him with the terrorist group for 200 days. .
Goldberg-Polin, who is seen missing his left hand and part of his arm, begins by identifying himself before saying: “I was arrested on October 7 at the Nova Festival in Rei’m. I went out to find entertainment with my friends.
He lost his arm when he saved his friends on October 7 by throwing a grenade that was near them.
The emaciated man, who spent more than six months as a hostage and was seen with his head shaved, said: “Instead, I found myself fighting for survival with serious injuries all over my body.”
‘However, I took it upon myself to protect myself and the people who were afraid around me because there was no one to protect us that day.
He then blames Netanyahu and his government for not rescuing the hostages, saying: “Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, [you] “You should be ashamed of yourselves because you neglected us along with thousands of other citizens.”
Hersh Goldberg-Polin (pictured) can be seen missing his left hand and part of his arm.
Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militants and their supporters protest outside the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Friends and supporters of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 at the Nova Festival, demand a hostage agreement
The video also comes a day after Biden met with Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old American girl who was held hostage in Gaza for several weeks at the start of the war.
Abigail, who has dual Israeli and American citizenship, was taken hostage after her parents were killed in the attack and was freed nearly seven weeks later.
She was the first American hostage freed by Hamas as part of a deal with Israel to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners at the start of the war. Abigail turned four years old during her time in captivity.
Biden spent more than an hour with Abigail and her family on Wednesday, according to the White House.
‘She played in the Oval Office. “She crawled through the door and found on the desk with that famous photo of John F. Kennedy’s child,” said a senior administration official. “She came out and was on the swing and playing on the playground we have on the south lawn.”
The war in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, about two-thirds of them children and women.
Meanwhile, Israel intensified airstrikes on Rafah overnight, killing at least six Palestinians. Thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge in the southern Gaza city.
Biden and other Israeli allies have warned that the invasion could cause mass casualties.
But Netanyahu says Israel can only achieve its goals of dismantling Hamas and returning dozens of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to Rafah.
A senior Hamas political official told The Associated Press that the Islamic militant group is willing to accept a five-year or longer truce with Israel and would lay down its weapons and become a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established within throughout the previous stage. -1967 borders.
Abigail Edan, center, with her aunt Liron, left, and uncle Zuli, right, after being released from Hamas in November; she met with President Biden at the White House on Wednesday.
It is highly unlikely that Israel will agree to this. Netanyahu and his government have promised to crush Hamas in exchange for its October 7 attack. Furthermore, the Israeli leadership is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Palestinian Authority hopes to establish an independent state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. While the international community overwhelmingly supports such a two-state solution, Netanyahu’s hardline government opposes it. denies.