Relative of American held hostage: 'We pray for our children to come home'
The families of some American hostages believed to be held in Gaza share stories of their loved ones and the effort to bring them home on 'Special Report.'
The families of American citizens still believed to be held hostage by Hamas inside Gaza met with President Biden at the White House, urging him to do everything in his power to bring all of the remaining hostages home.
Four Americans were released from Hamas captivity during a prisoner exchange last month and eight more are still reported captive after the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel.
Family members Ruby Chen, Orna and Ronen Neutra, Jonathan and Roy Dekel-Chen, Adi and Yael Alexander, and Liz Naftali joined Bret Baier on "Special Report" to share stories of their loved ones and place a spotlight on the effort to secure their release.
Liz Naftali, the great-aunt of 4-year-old American Abigail Edan, who was released in November after 50 days in Hamas captivity, said she wants people to pray for a Christmas miracle.
A little girl takes a photograph of a poster showing hostage Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old with American and Israeli citizenship who was taken hostage on Oct. 7. ((Heidi Levine for The Washington Post via Getty Images).)
"I look at all of these people here whose children have not come back, and I pray, and I ask people who are joining us and watching to pray for the miracle of Christmas, that we should have these young people back home with their families," she said.
Among the hostages is Sagui Dekel-Chen, a 35-year-old father of three who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His father Jonathan said testimony from freed Israeli hostages revealed his son is alive and inside the Gaza tunnels.
Edan Alexander, 19, graduated from Tenafly High School in New Jersey last year before volunteering to serve with the IDF.
"He was kidnapped Oct. 7th from his post, from the IDF post, and since then, we have no additional information about this abduction," said his father Adi.
A woman holds an image of hostage Edan Alexander during the Global Day of Unity and Prayer with Israel's Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of those taken captive by Palestinian Hamas militants during the October 7 attack. ( (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images))
Edan’s mother Yael added it is difficult to celebrate Hanukkah without their son. "Every night we are lighting the candles with his sister, Mika and his brother Roy, and I'm just feeling sad, but full of hope that something is going to happen, something good, and he will return home," she explained.
Omer Neutra, 22, also volunteered to serve in the IDF, according to his parents Orna and Ronen.
"He's like an all-American kid. He loved sports. He was accepted to Binghamton University, but decided to defer this school. And he went to Israel on a gap year and he connected deeply with the country, with his peers and he decided to volunteer to the IDF and he was taken from his post," his mother Orna recalled.
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His father Ronen added that serving in the IDF is a "reality in Israel that we all live with." "It's hard for us to to think about him doing the right thing for the country and being [at] the wrong place [at] the wrong time."
Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra, a dual nationality US-Israeli soldier who is one of the hostages held by Hamas, attend a US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia roundtable. ((Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images))
Ruby Chen, the father of IDF soldier Itay, said he likes to remember his son playing card tricks. "Hopefully, he has a deck of cards with him… with the other people that are held in custody somewhere, hopefully passing time," he told host Bret Baier.
Chen held up an hourglass to signify the urgency of getting the remaining hostages out of Gaza.
"The idea is after 67 days, we don't have time. They don't have time. Each day that passes by, the probability of getting us citizens back home is not good. And any meeting that I have with officials, I put this on the table to either emphasize the fact that -- you're going back to your family, you're going to have a nice dinner," he said. "We have an empty chair."
An hourglass sits in front of a "kidnapped" flier showing a photo of 19 year old Itay Chen, during a US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia roundtable. ((Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images))
One relative praised the Biden administration during the interview for their efforts to help free the remaining hostages while another urged them to put more pressure on other countries like Egypt and Qatar to help get a deal done.
Hostage negotiations reportedly fell apart after the seven-day truce when Hamas refused to release more female hostages.
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Israeli officials believe Hamas still has roughly 18 women in custody, most of whom were kidnapped from the Nova music festival near the Gaza border, according to Axios.
Photographs of Israeli hostages being held by Hamas militants are projected on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. The Islamic militant group killed 1,400 people and kidnapped 240 others in an unprecedented cross-border attack on Oct. 7, triggering a war that has raged for the past month. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
The IDF resumed its military campaign in Gaza on Dec. 1 after Hamas refused to release more hostages. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed during the conflict, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
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The U.N. has also warned of a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza as the war continues.