Biden to meet with hostage families at White House Wednesday

Originally Published: 12 DEC 23 11:32 ET Updated: 13 DEC 23 09:05 ET By MJ Lee and Michael Williams, CNN

Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday will meet with families of all eight American hostages abducted by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel, a senior administration official told CNN.

The meeting will take place at the White House with some joining virtually. A number of families of hostages are in Washington, DC, this week to make a personal case for the Biden administration and Israeli government to work harder and more creatively for their loved ones’ release.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer also will join the meeting, the official said. Wednesday marks Biden’s first in-person meeting with the families of American hostages — he previously met with them over Zoom in October.

There are still seven American men and one woman missing since the war began, according to the White House. Four Americans – a 4-year-old girl and three women – have been released so far.

Since then, there has been regular outreach from the White House and the office of Biden’s hostage envoy, Roger Carstens, according to the families. They contrasted that to what they’ve described as minimal support received from the Israeli government.

But after watching a separate deal reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin for several Israeli-Russian hostages, the families have wondered whether the Biden administration could be making a stronger push.

“President Putin kind of opened our eyes that there is the ability to do a separate deal on a specific nationality,” Ruby Chen, whose 19-year-old reservist son Itay has been missing since October 7, previously told CNN. “So that precedent is something that I think is logical to suggest or to consider.”

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN the president will promise the families the administration is “not going to lose sight of their loved ones,” when he meets them at the White House.

“We’re not going to stop trying to get them home,” Kirby told CNN’s Poppy Harlow on “CNN This Morning” Wednesday. “Hour by hour, literally, we are trying to get more information about them and to get them, get to get a deal in place where we can get them back home.”

Several family members had asked to attend a Hanukkah reception held at the White House on Monday, but did not receive an invite. But Biden referenced the hostages while speaking at the reception, vowing his administration was “not going to stop ‘til we get every one of them home.”

This story has been updated with additional reporting

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