Relatives of captives urge US to put pressure on ally to end war

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas visited Washington to call on the US to put pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to stop the war in Gaza.

They accused the Israeli Prime Minister of playing politics and failing to bring their loved ones home.

The Senate foreign relations committee hosted a media briefing on Wednesday, more than 100 days after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in about 240 people being taken hostage.

Liz Hirsh Naftali, the aunt of returned hostage Abigail Mor Edan, 4, who survived after Hamas killed her parents, said the Israeli government was not doing enough for the hostages, 132 of whom remain in Gaza.

“This hold-up is with the Netanyahu government,” Ms Naftali said.

“The lack of action to bring home these loved ones clearly demonstrates to us that he wants to keep this war going to remain an office.”

Ms Naftali urged the Biden administration to take a tougher stance on Mr Netanyahu’s government. “President Biden has been very clear that he and the US government are friends of Israel and the Israeli people,” she said.

“Sometimes friends have to deliver hard messages … We need to make sure that Israel is put under the pressure to make a deal to stop this war and bring home these hostages.”

The Senate committee chairman Ben Cardin said Washington’s focus was on “using every effective avenue” to secure the release of the hostages.

Mr Cardin avoided questions on whether he agreed that the US should take a harder line with the Israeli government.

“We’re going to continue to use every method we have and that, at times, will mean we’ll be offering some strong suggestions to our own government, to Israelis and to third-party countries, their country leaders,” he told The National.

Israel claims 25 hostages have died in captivity. Many of the 240 hostages were released during a November truce.

With bipartisan support, Mr Biden’s administration has fast-tracked extra military sales to Israel for its operation in Gaza, which has killed more than 24,600 people.