{"id":1290,"date":"2023-10-15T04:15:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T04:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/connectwithfund.com\/politics\/biden-speaks-with-families-of-americans-unaccounted-for-in-israel\/"},"modified":"2023-10-15T04:15:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-15T04:15:26","slug":"biden-speaks-with-families-of-americans-unaccounted-for-in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/connectwithfund.com\/?p=1290","title":{"rendered":"Biden speaks with families of Americans unaccounted for in Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n President Joe Biden on Friday spoke with the families of the Americans who remain unaccounted for in Israel after promising to speak with family members of those who are held hostage by Hamas.\n <\/p>\n

\n During a speech in Philadelphia Friday afternoon, Biden recounted the conversation.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey\u2019re going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children are,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s gut wrenching. I assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible\u201d to ensure the Americans\u2019 return.\n <\/p>\n

\n National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told reporters that Biden \u201cconveyed directly to these families that they have been in his prayers and we affirmed for them that the United States government is doing everything possible to locate and bring home their loved ones.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The call was led by special presidential envoy for hostage affairs Roger Carstens, Kirby said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSeveral of the family members shared information about their loved ones \u2013 personal stories and experiences that they have gone through as they endure this, quite frankly, unimaginable ordeal,\u201d Kirby said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The family members joined Biden from both Israel and the US for the video call, a source familiar with the conversation told CNN. It made for a large gathering, as multiple family members joined from different locations in some cases.\n <\/p>\n

\n The person described the call as emotional and said there were no contentious or heated moments. Biden appeared to want the call to not be formal in nature, they added.\n <\/p>\n

\n Saray Cohen, whose sister and niece were kidnapped by Hamas, told CNN\u2019s Wolf Blitzer that her brother attended the call and that it was touching Biden found time to speak with each of them.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe reassured us that the United States will do everything in its power to get them back home and to get a sign of life from them. We are confident that we are in good hands,\u201d she said on \u201cThe Situation Room.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Cohen noted that she has many other family members unaccounted for. \u201cAs you can imagine, we are devastated. We are having quite a hard time. We are worried sick about them,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n

\n In clips of an interview with CBS\u2019 \u201c60 Minutes\u201d that aired Friday, Biden promised to speak with the families.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cI think they have to know that the president of the United States of America cares deeply about what\u2019s happening. Deeply. We have to communicate to the world (that) this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It\u2019s pure barbarism,\u201d the president told CBS\u2019 Scott Pelley in a clip of a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d interview that was released Friday morning.\n <\/p>\n

\n He added: \u201cWe\u2019re going to do everything in our power to get them home if we can find them.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Asked about his message for those holding Americans hostage in Gaza, Biden said, \u201cEverything in our power. And \u2013 I\u2019m not gonna go into the detail of that, but there\u2019s \u2013 we\u2019re workin\u2019 like hell on it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Biden said he feels so strongly about speaking personally with the families \u201cbecause I think they have to know that the President of the United States of America cares deeply about what\u2019s happening, deeply.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have to communicate to the rest of the world, this is critical. This is not even human behavior. It\u2019s pure barbarism,\u201d he continued.\n <\/p>\n

\n Fourteen Americans remain unaccounted for, and the White House believes \u201cless than a handful\u201d are being held hostage by Hamas following this weekend\u2019s attacks, Kirby has said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The US is in \u201cdirect communication\u201d with Israeli counterparts and the families, Kirby told CNN\u2019s Poppy Harlow on Friday morning.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe families have been a good source of information because some of them, you know, they saw their loved one being abducted or they know they\u2019ve seen images of their loved one being abducted. So they have been a significant and an important source of information as well,\u201d Kirby said Friday.\n <\/p>\n

\n But, he added, \u201cWe just don\u2019t have enough information to develop any specific policy options one way or the other.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n The US is offering Israel hostage recovery expertise, with FBI and Pentagon personnel on the ground providing support.\n <\/p>\n

\n Diplomatic efforts to recover the hostages are also underway, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken currently traveling in Qatar, which CNN has reported is among the countries in talks with Hamas over hostages.\n <\/p>\n

\n Kirby noted to CNN on Thursday that it is a \u201ccommon tactic in the Hamas playbook to break up hostages and move them in rounds in sometimes small groups,\u201d though the US has not confirmed whether that is the case.\n <\/p>\n

\n Biden called Hamas \u201cpure evil\u201d but said the majority of Palestinians were suffering as a result of the militant group\u2019s terror. In some of his most direct public comments about the suffering inside Gaza, the president said he was working \u201curgently to address the humanitarian crisis\u201d in the coastal Palestinian enclave.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe can\u2019t lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas,\u201d Biden said, adding, \u201cThey\u2019re suffering as a result as well.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n FBI hostage negotiators and agents, some working in Israel and others in field offices around the US, have been assisting in the efforts, according to US law enforcement officials involved in the matter.\n <\/p>\n

\n These include members of the FBI\u2019s Critical Incident Response Group, which has extensive experience in helping to resolve hostage incidents, including in war zones from Afghanistan to Iraq and across the Middle East. Negotiators and agents are talking to family members, getting proof of life information that can be used in the investigation and for possible questions to be asked if hostage-takers reach out.\n <\/p>\n

\n Earlier this week, Biden pledged the full force of his administration\u2019s commitment to rescuing hostages, saying that while \u201cwe\u2019re working on every aspect of the hostage crisis in Israel,\u201d if he relayed in detail what steps the administration was taking, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to get them home.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFolks, there\u2019s a lot we\u2019re doing \u2013 a lot we\u2019re doing. I have not given up hope of bringing these folks home,\u201d Biden said. \u201cBut the idea that I\u2019m going to stand here before you and tell you what I\u2019m doing is bizarre, so I hope you understand how bizarre I think it would be to try to answer that question.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n This story has been updated with additional details.<\/em>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Joe Biden on Friday spoke with the families of the Americans who remain unaccounted for in Israel after promising to speak with family members of those who are held hostage by Hamas. During a speech in Philadelphia Friday afternoon, Biden recounted the conversation. \u201cThey\u2019re going through agony not knowing what the status of their sons, daughters, husbands, wives, children are,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s gut wrenching. I assured them my personal commitment to do everything possible, everything possible\u201d to ensure the Americans\u2019 return. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told reporters that Biden \u201cconveyed directly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nBiden speaks with families of Americans unaccounted for in Israel | ConnectWithFund<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President Joe Biden on Friday spoke with the families of the Americans who remain unaccounted for in Israel after promising to speak with family members\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/connectwithfund.com\/?p=1290\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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