Relatives of American hostages in Gaza speak at a news conference on Capitol Hill. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE—The families of American hostages held by Hamas pleaded for help from both political parties at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, as they marked the grim milestone of 285 days since the U.S. citizens were taken captive.
Orna and Ronen Neutra, the parents of 22-year-old Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra, said "every day we count the number of days since he was taken from us."
"[Nearly] 300 days have passed without [Omer] seeing the Red Cross, without having basic humanitarian needs that any human being deserves," said Ronen, speaking at an event organized by Concerned Women for America on the sidelines of the RNC.
"Time is running out," he said, urging the Biden administration to help move a hostage deal forward. "The deal needs to be signed. Those people need to come back, the living and the dead."
Hamas continues to hold over 100 hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attacks, including 8 Americans. Omer Neutra, who was born and raised in New York, moved to Israel while taking a gap year after high school.
Liz Naftali, the great aunt of 4-year-old hostage Abigail Edan, who was released earlier this year, said the Biden administration is in contact "pretty regularly with the American hostage families," and the families have met multiple times with President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
She said they have also received strong support from Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), calling them "huge supporters and advocates."
But she noted that "we don't have the job done. So we know that we have partners, and we need to keep doing the work."
The Neutra family is also scheduled to speak on the main stage at the RNC on Wednesday evening.
"We expect everybody [in both parties] to work together, put political issues aside, and act [as] one body, as Americans, make sure that the eight Americans are coming back and with them, the rest of the 120 other nationalities of Israelis," said Ronen.
Other Americans still held captive are Edan Alexander, a 20-year-old from New Jersey; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35; Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old California native; and Keith Siegel, 64, from North Carolina. The bodies of several murdered Americans are also being held by Hamas. They include Judith Weinstein, Gadi Haggai, and Itay Chen.
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