JNS
Israel's Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing met in Washington with his U.S. counterpart • Israeli delegation reportedly heading to Cairo for ceasefire talks.
Families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza since the terror group's Oct. 7 massacre called on Tuesday in Washington for an agreement to secure their release.
The relatives gathered on the National Mall near the Capitol, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday.
Organized by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, a volunteer organization advocating for the return of the 120 captives being held by Hamas in Gaza, the participants wore yellow shirts symbolizing support for the abductees. The shirts read "Seal the deal now" in bold red and black. Large banners also displayed those words, along with "Save lives now" and "Give us hope now."
More than 100 supporters also attended the rally, waving Israeli flags and holding up posters featuring pictures of the hostages. They included members of the local Jewish community, as well as Jewish community members who made the trip to D.C. from Philadelphia and New Jersey.
Supporters were also bused down to Washington from New York by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. The rally was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was moved to Tuesday over security concerns due to Netanyahu's speech.
Released hostage describes hell of Hamas captivity
Among those addressing the crowd was Aviva Siegel, who was released as part of a ceasefire agreement in November after 51 days in Hamas captivity. Her American-born husband, Keith, is still a hostage.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva on the Mall, she described the living hell the hostages have been going through for over nine months in captivity.
"I came here at a critical moment, because there's a deal on the table, and Bibi [Netanyahu] needs to understand. He needs to take it with two hands before it will be too late," she said.
"I want Keith to come back alive. Not in a box. Not dead. I want him to come back like I know Keith. But I know what Keith is going through and the 120 hostages are going through. They are going through hell. I'm just screaming out loud. They need to come home," she added.
"When I said goodbye to Keith, I gave him a hug, and I said, 'Keith, you will be strong for me and and I will be strong for you.' And I hope that he is keeping that sentence, and it's one of the sentences that I'm keeping in my heart. ... I'm keeping strong for Keith and I'm talking for Keith and talking for the 120 hostages that are still there," she said.
"I'm in Gaza all the time. Everything reminds me of Gaza. Maybe I'll get a couple of minutes where I won't think about Gaza, but it will come back to me in many ways. I went through hell. I went through seven weeks and two days [of] hell. Of going through things and bad things and worse things and worse things, and nearly died so many times," she continued.
"You feel like there was a cloud of death over my head all the time and I just prayed to God that I would die before Keith and not to see Keith dead," she added.
Seigel said that she witnessed sexual assaults while in captivity.
"I saw them coming back after it happened and I saw the sadness in their eyes and then shaking, and they were talking about their periods, and I know that Keith told them to protect me and not tell me bad things so I don't know what they told him," she said.
"I'm really scared. I'm scared of what they went through. I'm scared of what they are going through, because they are just such an easy catch. When Hamas terrorists want to do something, that's what they do. They do whatever they want to, whenever they want to and they torture everybody, all the time."
Netanyahu condemns criticism of freed hostage
Netanyahu on Tuesday condemned virulent criticism aimed at rescued Israeli hostage Noa Argamani for joining the prime minister on the flight to Washington for his address to Congress.
Argamani and her father, Yaakov, accepted the premier's invitation to freed hostages and their families to accompany him on the trip aboard the newly inaugurated state airplane Wing of Zion.
Leftist media figures and other Netanyahu opponents attacked Argamani for the decision, accusing her of allowing herself to be used to bolster the premier.
"I am shocked by the campaign being directed against Noa Argamani. Noa endured torments in Hamas captivity. She longed to return to her mother before she passed away, and managed to see her. This was not an easy experience," Netanyahu told a gathering of pro-Israel evangelical leaders on Tuesday night in Washington.
"Now that she has returned and has come, together with the prime minister of Israel and the official delegation of the State of Israel, to attend a very important speech before both houses of Congress, there is a campaign against her?" he said.
"They are telling her 'It is a pity you left captivity.' Is there no limit to the insanity? There is—this is it. Enough," he added.
Israeli hostage point man meets U.S. counterpart
IDF Brig. Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, coordinator for the hostages and the missing, met with his U.S. counterpart in Washington on Tuesday night to discuss the situation surrounding the Israeli captives.
U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Dustin Stewart led a team from the State Department in the talks with Hirsch.
"The two discussed the situation regarding the return of the hostages as well as the issue of cooperation on various issues between the two countries' coordinators for the hostages and the missing," according to an Israeli government statement.
Israeli delegation due in Cairo for hostage talks
An Israeli delegation was set to depart for Cairo later on Wednesday for talks aimed at securing the release of the hostages, according to a report in the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
The report came after Sunday's announcement by the Prime Minister's Office that an Israeli delegation was scheduled to set off on Thursday for negotiations. The announcement did not specify where the talks would be held; previous negotiation rounds have been held in Doha and Cairo.
However, the U.S.-based Axios outlet cited an Israeli official as saying on Wednesday that the departure of a high-level delegation was postponed until after Netanyahu's Thursday meeting with President Joe Biden, in which the two leaders will discuss the ongoing hostage talks.
An Egyptian source said that the focus of the negotiations is the Israeli presence along the 8.7-mile Philadelphi Corridor dividing Gaza from Egypt. The IDF has taken full operational control of the border area running from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Netanyahu confirmed last week that his intention is to keep Israeli troops along the corridor, telling Channel 14 that it “has political and security advantages.” The move still needs Cabinet approval.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Biden suggested that a hostage deal was close.
Biden, who had announced the previous day that he would not seek reelection, called in to a campaign event in Delaware for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We’ve got to keep working for an end to the war in Gaza. I’ll be working very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end and Middle East peace. And get all those hostages home. I think we’re on the verge of being able to do that," he said.
