Relatives of hostages meet with Israeli and US officials in emotional plea to 'bring them back'

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Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik met with the families of Israeli hostages on Sunday after more than seven months of separation from their loved ones following the brutal Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7.

The families of Carmel Gat and Shlomi Ziv made emotional pleas to the leaders to intervene and do everything possible to bring them home

"The last thing Carmel saw before being taken away was her mother Kineret shot in the head and lying on the floor. I hope she knows that her father and family are alive; I'm afraid she doesn't," Gil Dickmann, a cousin of Gat said, bringing the congresswoman to tears.

"She’s a free soul, and I don't know how they took it away from her. She always helped others, and now she’s in distress and deserves our help."

Gat turned 40 last week while in captivity. Dikman highlighted the horrific conditions his cousin and the other hostages are enduring. “We know about the rape, the sexual crimes and the horrors of captivity,” he said.

During the visit, Rosita, the mother of hostage Ziv, told Katz and Stefanik, "Shlomi is my eldest son. Every grandchild who passes by asks, 'When is Shlomi coming back? Has he returned?' We need to bring them back, give our people hope.”

“I see their pictures and ask - don't we have the right to self-defense? We don't want anything, we want peace, and living in peace is only a matter of will."

I met with families of the hostages who shared horrific and tragic stories stemming from the brutal October 7th terror attacks.

Let me be very clear: We will not rest until the hostages are back home. #BringThemHome pic.twitter.com/X9L74HEwXc
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) May 19, 2024

Before meeting with the families, Katz and Stefanik discussed U.S. support for Israel during the war and the issue of Palestinian statehood.

"We need bipartisan support against the establishment of a Palestinian state - which would be a reward for Hamas and Iran who would control it and work toward Israel's destruction," Katz told the congresswoman.

He thanked Stefanik for “being the first to remove the masks and expose the true faces of university presidents who didn’t condemn antisemitic incitement and calls for the murder of Jews.”

“The world must fight against antisemitism and incitement against Israel,” he added.

Katz also expressed his gratitude to the congresswoman for supporting Israel and approving aid for Israel in Congress “with bipartisan support, despite challenges."

"We are now in the midst of a war to return the hostages and eliminate Hamas, and we need the full and unconditional support of the U.S. Our war is also your war against the axis of evil led by Iran and radical Islam,” the Israeli diplomat said.

"The U.S. must lead, together with Europe this time, severe sanctions against Iran to stop it now before it’s too late. Iran must not have nuclear weapons - it is unacceptable that European countries support stricter measures against Iran's nuclear program more than the U.S.,” he added.

Stefanik wrote on her website: “Today I met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to discuss efforts to safely return the American and Israeli hostages Hamas is holding in captivity. I met with families of the hostages who shared horrific and tragic stories stemming from the brutal October 7th terror attacks. Let me be very clear: We will not rest until the hostages are back home.”

While in Israel, the Republican congresswoman also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

“It was an honor to meet with Israeli President Herzog today,” Stefanik wrote on social media.

“When he visited the United States last year to deliver a historic joint address to Congress, President Herzog shared a message of allyship and the close bond between our nations. Today I’m in Israel during one of its darkest periods in history to share a message of our own: the United States must always stand with Israel,” Stefanik said.