Biden to address the American hostages in Gaza during SOTU; who are the 6 U.S. citizens still held by Hamas?
Fox News
Family members of six remaining American hostages in Gaza will be guests of lawmakers at President Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday.
Thursday will mark five months since the attacks in Israel by Hamas terrorists that killed at least 1,200 people, including 32 Americans.
At least six American hostages remain in Gaza as the war between Hamas terrorists and Israeli forces continues.
Several of the hostages’ family members will be in attendance at the Capitol Thursday night as Biden has seemingly put pressure on Israel to accept an immediate six-week cease-fire with Hamas in exchange for the release of more than 134 hostages. Hamas has so far turned down all offers.
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Among the attendees will be the parents of Edan Alexander. Born in Tel Aviv, Alexander grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Tenafly High School in 2022.
Edan went to Israel to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces, serving in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Division. He was texting with his mother, who was visiting Israel, on the morning of the attack, telling her he was safe. His family was informed Edan had been taken hostage the following week, according to reports. His parents are guests of Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., and Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.
The parents and aunt of Itay Chen will also attend as guests of Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. Chen is a 19-year-old Israeli American. He was on active duty in a tank unit Oct. 7. The Times of Israel reported that Chen was last heard from at 6:40 a.m. the morning of the attack.
Omer Neutra, a 22-year-old Israeli American and a grandson of Holocaust survivors, also remains a hostage in Gaza.
Growing up on Long Island, Neutra is a New York Knicks fan and was the captain of his high school basketball team, volleyball team and soccer team for a time.
Neutra put off plans to go to college in the U.S. to study in Israel as a gap year before enrolling at Binghamton University and joined the IDF. He was serving as a tank commander near Gaza when Hamas attacked. His mother and brother will be guests of Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. His father is a guest of Rep. Tom Suozzi, R-N.Y.
Sagui Dekel-Chen, the 35-year-old son of a U.S.-born Hebrew University professor, lived in Nir Oz with his two young daughters and his wife Avital, who was pregnant when her husband was taken hostage. She gave birth to their third child while Sagui was held by Hamas terrorists.
His father and stepmother are guests of Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., respectively.
“My wife, Gillian Kaye, and I are honored to be attending President Biden’s State of the Union address,” Jonathan Dekel-Chen told Fox News Digital. “We are among the seven families of Israeli-American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza to be invited to the State of the Union.”
“This solidarity in support of our families is particularly meaningful to us and reflects the wall-to-wall commitment in Congress and the Biden Administration to free all of the hostages from Hamas captivity,” he added.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was taken hostage at the Supernova music festival. He reportedly lost an arm in the attack and had to apply his own tourniquet, witnesses have said. Hersh is the son of Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, both originally from the Chicago area. He was born in Berkeley, California, and then lived in Richmond, Virginia, before immigrating to Israel.
During the attack, Hersh, his best friend Aner Shapira and others took refuge in a concrete field shelter. Hamas terrorists repeatedly threw grenades at the shelter. Shapira managed to throw seven of the grenades back out before being killed. Hersh had only recently returned to Israel after several months traveling across Europe by himself, occasionally meeting up with his boyhood friends.
His aunt is attending as the guest of Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill.
Keith Samuel Siegel, 64, and Adrienne (Aviva) Siegel, 62, woke up to the sound of sirens on the morning of Oct. 7 at Kfar Aza, a kibbutz close to the frontier with Gaza, where they had lived for almost 40 years.
Grabbing a phone, they rushed to their safe room in their pajamas, expecting to be there for only a few minutes. Instead, they were taken hostage in Gaza by terrorists driving the Siegels’ car. Aviva, who is from South Africa, is a kindergarten teacher. Keith, who is from the United States, works for a pharmaceutical company.
The two are close to their four children and five grandchildren and were spending a quiet weekend at home in Kfar Aza, according to family reports. Aviva was later released as a part of the first deal, and she awaits Keith’s return.
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His niece and sister are attending as guests of Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. and Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., respectively.
In late December, it was announced Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein, two Israeli American peace activists, were murdered Oct. 7, and Hamas is holding their bodies.
Gad, 73, a retired chef and talented musician, and his wife, Judith, 70, an English teacher originally from Toronto, Canada, were on their regular early morning walk in the fields near Nir Oz kibbutz when they messaged relatives to say they were under attack. They were shot and badly wounded but were able to call the kibbutz’s paramedic to ask for help, which never came.
Andrea Weinstein, the sister of Judy Weinstein, will attend as the guest of Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.
Fox News Digital’s Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this report.