Israeli hostage in Gaza pronounced dead, prime minister's office says
Matthew Barrera
Published Apr 11, 2026
The families of American hostages held by Hamas offered effusive praise for President Joe Biden's administration after meeting at the White House with the president Wednesday.
“It was a terrific, terrific meeting, conversation,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son, Sagui Dekel-Chen, was captured by Hamas on October 7. “I think we all came away feeling that, as families of hostages of American Israeli hostages, which are eight out of a total of 138 hostages, we felt — we felt before, and we were only reinforced, seeing and believing, that we could have no better friend in Washington or in the White House than the president himself.”
Liz Naftali, the great-aunt of Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old Israeli American hostage released by Hamaslast month, called her great-niece “a miracle, a light in this very dark time,” adding Biden and his administration “have been bringing out light in this dark time.”
She also thanked Pope Francis for calling for the safe release of all hostages in Gaza.
“I hope that the Pope continues to speak, and others around the world not only pray — but pray for us, pray for our families, pray for our leaders, pray for the president and the Pope — and all that he can do is to push,” she said. “We would love a Christmas miracle, we would love all of our loved ones to come back and be with us for Christmas.”
Dekel-Chen said the administration has been in “frequent, very transparent contact” with the families of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, but told reporters the families are “going to keep the content of the conversation private.”
While he declined to weigh in on calls for a ceasefire, Dekel-Chen said the meeting with the president “only reinforced that they are willing and ready to do all that they possibly can, by any number of means, to get the hostages out.”
Naftali, for her part, thanked members of the administration for centering the humanity of those still being held hostage.
“And that is what the president and (US Secretary of State Antony) Blinken understand — is that they are just not numbers and they're just not faces, they are sons,” she said. “They are sons. They are grandparents, they are mothers, and that is what the president and his team understand.”
