This week, family members of Americans who were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 were in Washington, D.C., meeting with members of Congress and President Joe Biden to advocate for the release of their loved ones.
“We still have people that need to come home,” Liz Naftali, a family member of one of the American hostages released in November, told CBN News. “That’s why I’m here.”
Naftali was part of a group that met with Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday.
“They just listened and they were thoughtful and they were empathetic,” recalled Naftali. “And they then talked about their love for Israel, their support for Israel and their support to get these hostages back and basically, that this is their number one priority of this government.”
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Naftali is the great-aunt of Abigail Idan, the youngest American hostage, who celebrated her fourth birthday while in Hamas captivity. Abigail’s father was holding her in his arms when Hamas militants shot and killed him on Oct. 7 when they invaded Kfar Aza kibbutz in Israel where the family lived. Abigail’s mother was also shot and killed as her two older siblings hid in a closet.
“We know that she witnessed her parents being murdered by Hamas terrorists,” explained Naftali. “We know that she was a hostage for over 50 days, and so what we don’t know is what life is going to be or what things will come out. But, what I will say is she has this beautiful family. Her parents aren’t there, but she has an aunt and uncle and grandparents and a beautiful big family and there is so much love.”
“We look at Abigail’s return as a miracle,” Naftali said. “We’ve already shown that we can get these people out. We just need to do it again.”
Naftali said she’s grateful for the incredible support system family members of the hostages have developed.
“While we weren’t family members on the sixth of October, the horrific occurrences on the seventh brought us together as a family,” she explained.
“Through the time when Abigail was a hostage until today, the amount of people who have come up to me and saying I am praying for Abigail. We are praying for these families. We are praying for these people and we are praying for our leaders,” said Naftali. “We’re praying for President Biden. We’re praying for Secretary Blinken. It has been so meaningful.”
ABOVE: Watch CBN News’ full interview with Liz Naftali.