Some will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington next week.
Amelie Botbol
(JNS)
The families of U.S.-Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will be attending the inauguration of Donald Trump as America’s 47th president on Jan. 20.
“The invitation came from the president’s team,” Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli IDF Sgt. Itay Chen, whose body is being held by the terrorists in Gaza, told JNS on Sunday.
“They invited us as opposed to us asking to come, and I hope that the president’s speech will address the hostage issue and the seven U.S. citizens held in Gaza, and that it will be a failure if all U.S. hostages are not released,” he added.
President-elect Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Saturday afternoon, in what was described as a “surprise visit” to discuss multilateral hostage negotiations after Witkoff attended talks in Doha with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Chen said that he has been in contact with all elected officials who will be dealing with the hostage crisis in the incoming administration. He met with U.S. National Security Advisor-designate Mike Waltz, had a phone call with Witkoff and has been in contact with special presidential envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler. Chen even traveled to Doha to meet Qatari and U.S. negotiators.
“We are at the closest to get to a deal but it requires leadership from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do what is needed to close a deal for all of the hostages,” he continued.
“It was very difficult to see the list of 34 hostages, [living and dead, whom Hamas claimed it is ready to trade for a ceasefire and terrorists held in Israeli prisons]. Does it mean that the others are less important and that we can let them disappear. My expectation is that a deal will be signed with everyone on the bus,” Chen said.
Mossad Director David Barnea, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) Director Ronen Bar and Israel Defense Forces representative Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon embarked on their first joint trip to Qatar since August on Saturday evening, for discussions on finalizing a hostage agreement.
Netanyahu has provided Barnea, Alon and Bar with comprehensive operational parameters for securing an agreement.
In Doha, representing their respective agencies, they are to address all resolution components, including IDF ceasefire deployments, terrorist prisoner releases and humanitarian considerations. To streamline decision-making, the team has authorization to make on-site decisions while maintaining constant communication with Netanyahu’s Jerusalem team.
Witkoff plans to accompany the Israeli delegation to Doha for final negotiations alongside current White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk. The upcoming Qatar discussions will focus on the first-phase release of 33 humanitarian-criteria hostages, with second-phase negotiations beginning three weeks later to address the release of remaining Hamas-held hostages.
While Israel maintains its position on war-related matters, Monday’s agenda includes discussing prisoner releases demanded by Hamas, possible senior prisoner exile arrangements, IDF positions in the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors on the Sinai border and south of Gaza City, respectively, Gaza population movements and the timing and numbers for hostage-prisoner exchanges.
“In all of President Trump’s major statements about the hostage crisis after the election, including one about six weeks ago when he said there would be hell to pay if the hostages weren’t freed by inauguration day, the main intent was for Hamas, but those statements include other parties to the negotiations as well, meaning Qatar, Egypt and Israel,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of Israeli-American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told JNS on Sunday.
Jonathan will also be attending the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
“Trump’s expectations from my conversations with people serving him also include Israel and that it too will do what it must to end the hostage crisis,” he said.
While Dekel-Chen said he has had informal conversations with members of the incoming administration that are relevant to the hostage crisis, he hopes to meet with them in person in a formal setting during inauguration week or the following week.
Images: Families of American hostages who have been held in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 2024. Credit: Courtesy of Ruby Chen.
