Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed on Monday that the US would “continue to work tirelessly” to bring home four American hostages held by Hamas inside the Gaza Strip for more than a year.
The four who survived – Keith Siegel, 65, Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, Omar Neutra, 22, and Aidan Alexander, 21 – were abducted by the Palestinian militant group exactly one year ago on Monday, October 7, 2023. This location is also involved in the killing of approximately 1,200 Israelis.
“Hamas took 254 people hostage that day, including 12 Americans. Four of those Americans – Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Itay Chen, Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai – were murdered by Hamas. Four “Was released through an agreement negotiated by the United States last November, but four remain in captivity in Gaza: Aidan Alexander, Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Omar Neutra,” Blinken said. said in a statement.
Blinken said, “It is estimated that there are still 97 other hostages in Gaza today. These include men, women, young boys, young girls, two children and elderly people from more than 25 countries.” “Hamas must immediately release these hostages. Each of them must be returned to their families, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to bring them home.”
American hostages still in Gaza, left to right: Sagui Dekel-Chen, Aidan Alexander, Omar Neutra and Keith Siegel. (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)
Blinken, who on Monday called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel “the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” also said, “It is time to reach a ceasefire agreement that will bring the hostages home, the Israelis and Will ease the suffering of Palestinians.” People, and finally end this war.”
The youngest of the hostages, 20-year-old Aidan Alexander, graduated from Tenafly High School in New Jersey in 2022 before volunteering to serve with the IDF.
His father Adi said, “He was abducted from the IDF post on October 7 and since then, we have had no additional information about this abduction.”
Adi and his wife Yael wrote an opinion article in the new york times Saying in September that for hundreds of days “the world has failed our son and his fellow hostages: the Israeli government has abandoned them, many countries have turned a blind eye, and while we stand by the U.S. government for its steadfast support Thankfully, the results of these efforts are yet to come.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, father of Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, speak to reporters after a meeting, surrounded by other family members of Americans taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel Were. With President Biden at the White House on December 13, 2023. (Julia Nickinson/Washington Post via Getty Images)
22 year old Omar Neutra also volunteered to serve in the IDF, According to his parents Orna and Ronen.
“He’s like an all-American kid. He loved sports. He was accepted to Binghamton University, but he decided to put this school on hold. And he went to Israel on a gap year, and that country “, he remained deeply connected with his comrades, and he decided to voluntarily join the IDF and was removed from his position,” his mother Orna has said.
he recently told the New York Post From her home in Plainview, New York, “Our child is the bargaining chip in this geopolitical nightmare, and we, the family, we’re just swimming on this wave. We’re trying not to drown.”
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Ronan and Orna Neutra, parents of American hostage Omar Neutra, speak during a news conference attended by families of American hostages and elected officials in Gaza on April 5 in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose 36-year-old son Sagui is still being held in Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 attack, said in a Interview with “Fox & Friends” in September, “It’s quite clear, the only way to get the hostages back home alive is some kind of compromise agreement with the devil.”
Dekel-Chen was kidnapped by Hamas a year ago in Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to American Jewish Committee. He ensured that his pregnant wife and their two daughters were safe in a shelter before confronting Hamas militants who stormed their home, the organization said.
Last November, Ellen Siegel, 65, Keith Siegel’s daughter, wrote in an article Column for Fox News Digital, “They put my parents, who were polite people full of kindness and quiet sensitivity, into my father’s car and took them to Gaza.”
Siegel’s wife Aviva was later released from captivity.
Aviva Siegel recently said, “It’s cruel to think that he’s been in such terrible conditions for so long.” Told the New York Post. “What they’re going through is the cruelest thing on Earth.”
Keith Samuel Siegel, 64, is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza (Hostage and Missing Families Forum)
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The bodies of Americans Itay Chen, 19, Gadi Haggai, 73, and his wife Judith Weinstein, 70, are also held by Hamas in Gaza.
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
