Posted on 11/26/23
| News Source: Arutz-7
US President Joe Biden gave an address following the release of 14 Israeli hostages and three foreign nationals from Hamas captivity.
The President opened with a mention of four-year-old US-Israeli citizen Avigail Idan, who was abducted after her parents were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7th.
"Two days ago, one of our fellow Americans turned four years old. She spent her birthday, that birthday, and at least 50 days before that, held hostage by Hamas. Today, she's free, and Jill and I, together with so many Americans, are praying that she will be alright."
Biden added: "We will not stop working until every one of the hostages is returned to their loved ones."
The President said that he would soon speak again with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "and we will continue to remain personally engaged to see that this deal is fully implemented and work to extend the deal as well."
According to Biden, "For weeks, I've been advocating for a pause in the fighting. For two purposes: to increase the assistance getting into the Gaza civilians who need help and to facilitate the release of the hostages."
He added: "We know that innocent children in Gaza are suffering as well because this war that Hamas unleashed has such consequences. Thousands have been killed, and from the earliest days of this crisis, I've worked closely with President Sisi of Egypt, the Israeli government, King Abdullah of Jordan, and leaders throughout the region to expand the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance.
Under this deal, fighting in Gaza has now been paused for three days. Over that time, 58 hostages have been released, including Thai, Filipino, and Russian nationals. Dozens of families have been reunited, and we worked urgently to take advantage of the pause to serge aid into Gaza. We've moved approximately 200 aid trucks into Gaza each day, loaded with food, water, medicine, fuel, and cooking gas." the president explained.